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Photo from Westeryi Newspaper Union 

GENERAL SIR ARTHUR CURRIE 

Commander of the Canadian forces on the Western Front. 



CANADA'S SONS 

AND GREAT BRITAIN 
IN THE WORLD WAR 

A complete and authentic history 

of the commanding part played by 

Canada and the British Empire in the 

ff^orld's Greatest War 



By COL. GEORGE G. NASMITH, C.M.G. 

CANADIAN EXPEDITIONARY FORCE 

Author of '^On the Fringe of the Great Fighf 



WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY 

GEN. SIR ARTHUR W. CURRIE, K.C.B.. K.C.M.G. 

COMMANDER OF THE CANADIAN ARMY CORPS 



ILLUSTRATED WITH REPRODUCTIONS FROM 
THE OFFICIAL PHOTOGRAPHS OF THE 
CANADIAN AND BRITISH GOVERNMENTS 



THE JOHN C. WINSTON CO., Limited 

TORONTO 






Copyright, Canada, 1919, By 
THE JOHN C. WINSTON CO., Limited 



Copyright in the U. S. A., 1919 
By The John C. Winston Co. 



OCT I7 1SI9 



A5353;j7 



V'- . 



INTRODUCTION 

By General Sir Arthur W. Currie 

COMMAJSTDER OF THE CANADIAN CORPS 

To write a foreword for a book all the chapters of which one 
has not had an opportunity of reading seems a departure from 
one of the principles which has guided one's conduct since leaving 
Canada in September, 1914. But when asked to do so by the 
author I gladly acceded to his request, for I know him to be a 
true Canadian and one who has played a gallant part in the recent 
struggle. 

To me, it seems a good thing that soldiers like Colonel George 
Nasmith, C.M.G., should record what they themselves have seen 
on the battlefields of France and Flanders. Because it is almost 
impossible to recover the spirit of past years, official histories, 
though correct in fact, often lack the personal touch of the eye- 
vntness. I therefore welcome this work, and confidently recom- 
mend it to the Canadian pubhc. 

As Commander of the Canadian Corps the temptation is 
strong to take this opportunity to recount some of its doings, and 
to give an appreciation of the value of those achievements. But 
this is not the time nor the place to foUow that inclination, rather 
let me attempt an appreciation of the man who made for the 
Canadian Corps whatever reputation it enjoys, the man whom 
the Germans Uked the least and feared the most — ^the Canadian 
soldier. 

The gathering together as a fighting force of so many men 
from Canada, and the comparison of these men with other soldiers 
on the battlefields of Europe have impressed upon us the reahza- 
tion that a Canadian type of manhood has been evolved, by virtue 
of the admixture of races, the influence of environment, and the 
manner of life in our home-land. 

Canadians derive their parentage chiefly from the Scotch, 
the Irish, the English, and the French, and while they have in- 

(iii) 



iv Introduction 

herited traits from every one of these races, yet they are quite 
distinct from them all. 

All Canadians are pioneers themselves, or are the immediate 
descendants of pioneers. Most of them have gained for them- 
selves, or have inherited those indehble signs with which natm-e 
graces the bodies and souls of those who have pitted their will, 
their strength, and their determination against her elemental forces 
and have earned for themselves a portion of her riches. The life 
of a Canadian pioneer, be it that of a woodsman, a prospector, a 
hunter or a settler upon the land, calls forth and demands brains, 
mettle and brawn. If the rewards are, as a rule, generous, the 
difficulties to be overcome are many, and none but the brave, the 
patient, and the strong can survive them. The severities of our 
climate eliminate the unfit, while the incessant activities of the 
community either reject or correct the lazy. Thus we see in opera- 
tion through various agencies, and in their moral and physical 
aspects, the laws of selection. The operation of those natural 
laws have already resulted in the creation or the segregation of a 
race of men approximating a particular type, with distinct moral, 
physical and intellectual characteristics. 

The rugged strength of the Canadian is depicted in his broad 
shoulders, deep chest and strong, clean-cut limbs. His eyes are 
keen and steady, while behind the calm gravity of his mien lies a 
tenacious and indomitable will. These are the invaluable gifts 
of our deep forests and lofty mountains, of our rolling plains and 
our great waterways, and of the clear light of our Northern skies, 
gifts which have enabled the Canadian to adapt himseK readily 
and well to the new conditions he found confronting him as a soldier. 
In the vigour of their bodies and the strength of their character we 
find the secret of their endurance to the dreadful sufferings and 
hardships of the earliest days of warfare, when the trenches were 
most primitive, and the comforts almost nil. I recall that the 
First Canadian division was in the line continuously for fifteen 
months from May, 1915, to August, 1916. And a greater demand 
still was made on these qualities of endurance in the last hundred 
days of the war when, fighting bitterly every day for every foot of 
ground against almost fifty German di^dsions, they penetrated 
the German defensive organizations to a depth exceeding in the 



Introduction v 

aggregate one hundred and fifty-five thousand yards, captured 
nearly thirty-two thousand prisoners, more than six hundred and 
twenty pieces of artillery and thousands of machine guns. 

Wide awake, and full of intelligent initiative, we see them 
engaging early in daring night patrols, models of hunting craft. 
To them there was no No Man's Land. What is usually called 
such was ours, and regarded merely as an outpost of our fixed 
position. Later they initiated the daring cutting-out raids, which 
were soon to become a feature of trench warfare. 

Their thirst for accurate information, for maps, for models, 
for aeroplane photos and sketches of their front was most striking, 
and what good use they made of this information! In the prepara- 
tion of trench-to-trench attacks it was an interesting as well as 
an inspiring sight to see junior officers, N. C. O.'s and men gathered 
together about the models and maps of the area to be attacked, 
studying these and discussing the details of the operation, and 
often as a result of these discussions suggesting modifications of 
the original plan, which I on many occasions was only too pleased 
to accept. All these officers and men were soon to go over the 
top. Some of them would be killed, many wounded, but they were 
not giving a thought to this aspect of the situation. They were 
engrossed in their task, enamoured with the technique of their 
art, their minds were concentrated on the operation, and in the 
working out of the details which were to secure them such striking 
success. 

Death had for them no peril. Our men could give lessons of 
stoicism to Roman soldiers. A little incident well illustrates their 
attitude in this respect. It was during the battle of the Somme 
in August, 1916. Many of the readers of this volume will recall 
the headquarters dug-out in the cemetery near Pozieres. In front 
of the entrance to this dug-out a runner had been killed early in 
the morning. He had been buried up to the waist by the shell, 
the upper part of his body stood up and the head was leaning 
forward. Runners v/ere constantly arriving from the front line 
with information. On entering headquarters they had to pass 
this body, that of their chum they all knew, and whom anybody 
could see they liked. Each took a good look at him and with the 
remark: ^' Hello, poor Jim! Bad luck!" passed on. The shelling 



vi Introduction 

was heavy and the machine-gun fire most violent. The same fate 
might soon overtake any of these runners, for dearth faced them 
all, yet that fact left them undisturbed. What mattered at the 
moment was their job, nothing else; and I pray you, gentle reader, 
do not believe that these men were callous. There w^as more ten- 
derness in their hearts than words can tell. One cannot forget 
that at any time any man would gladly, freely and voluntarily 
risk his life to bring in a wounded comrade. Our records are full 
of such deeds, and if Victoria Crosses were given in this war 
for the saving of human hfe at the risk of one's ovfn, Canadian 
soldiers could boast ten times the sixty-four they now so proudly 
wear. 

Selfishness was unknown to our soldiers, even when suffering 
bitterly. Once, during the heavy fighting in June, 1916, at Mount 
Sorrel, a man had his back cut up by machine-gun bullets, another 
had passed through his shoulder, while still another was lodged in 
his knee. He considered himseK a walking case, and unaided, 
started limping back under heavy shell-fire to the dressing sta- 
tion two miles in the rear. He had been walking for over two hours, 
and still had haK a mile to go, when he was overtaken by an officer 
who bade him remain where he was while a stretcher would be 
sent for him. He declined the offer, and, though bleeding profusely 
and suffering agony at every step, he suggested that the stretcher 
be used instead to carry another wounded man who had collapsed 
some few hundred yards farther up the trench. For himself, he 
would continue to walk, and hoped to have sufficient strength to 
reach his destination. Can you imagine what this meant, and 
what a heart of pure gold that man had? But even better examples 
of unselfishness and seK-sacrifice have come to my notice. I 
remember the case of a corporal in charge of a patrol of six men 
operating near Farbus Wood during the battle of Vimy Ridge 
in April, 1917. They were pinned to the ground by machine-gun 
fire. To move meant almost certain death, yet it was necessary 
that the information they had secured should be reported as soon 
as possible to battalion headquarters. The corporal sacrificed 
himself in cold blood in order to do his duty, and to save his com- 
ra,des. He said to them: ^^I am going to move away in that 
direction. When they see me and start sprinkling, ycu beat it." 



Introduction vii 

The men got away; the message reached headquarters; but the 
corporal Hes buried near an old gun emplacement on the eastern 
slope of Vimy Ridge. 

The results achieved by our men are sufficient testimony to 
their great bravery, yet Canadians would be the last to claim that 
they possessed this quahty in a greater degree than other troops. 
Thank God, the war has proved that the ^^guts" are still in the 
British race, otherwise, it might well be that we at this moment 
would not be dictating the terms of peace. I cannot refrain, though, 
from telling you of the superhuman deed of Sergeant Hugh Cairns, 
late of the Forty-sixth battahon, Saskatchewan regiment. He 
was recommended for and awarded the Victoria Cross for most 
conspicuous bravery before Valenciennes on November 1, 1918. 
When a machine gun opened fire on his platoon, without a moment's 
hesitation, Sergeant Cairns seized a Lewis gun, and single-handed, 
in the face of direct fire, rushed the post, killed the crew of five and 
captm*ed the gun. A Httle later the line was again held up by 
machine-gun fire. Sergeant Cairns again rushed forward and alone 
killed twelve of the enemy, captured eighteen prisoners and two 
machine guns. Here he was wounded in the shoulder. 

Subsequently, when the advance was again held up, by the 
fire of machine gims and field gims, he led a small party to outflank 
them, killed many and forced about fifty to siurender. Here were 
captured a number of machine guns and five field guns. After 
consohdation he ascertained that a battle patrol was pushing out 
to exploit Marly. It came on a yard filled with Germans. The 
officer in charge of the patrol. Sergeant Cairns, with his Lewis 
gun, and two others broke open the door and entered the yard, 
Sergeant Cairns firing his machine gun from the hip. About sixty 
Germans threw up their hands. Their officer passed in front of 
them, and when close to Cairns shot the latter through the body 
with his revolver. He sank to his knees but again opened fire mth 
his machine gun. The fighting became general, the enemy picking 
up their arms and opening fire. Sergeant Cairns was shot through 
the wrist, but he continued firing infficting heavy casualties. A 
moment later the butt of his gun was smashed by enemy bullets 
and he collapsed from weakness and loss of blood. The officer and 
one of the other men held the enemy at bay, while the other com- 



viii Introduction 

rades dragged Sergeant Cairns from the yard. Others of the patrol 
came up, and, placing him on a door attempted to get him away. 
The enemy opened fire on this stretcher party, killing one man and 
again wounding Cairns. By this time more of the patrol had 
joined in the fighting, and what was left of the sixty Germans in 
the yard v/ere forced to surrender. As the record says, 'through- 
out the operation he showed the highest degree of valour, and his 
leadership greatly contributed to the success of the attack. He 
died on November 2d from wounds.'' 

Let me give one more example. The conduct of Captain 
Learmouth of the Second battahon was first brought to my notice 
at the battle of Fresnoy on the morning of May 3d. Our men had 
to form up in the very exposed ground between Arleux and Fresnoy. 
The shelhng was extremely heavy and only those who have waited 
for the zero hour in a heavily shelled area know the tension that 
existed. In order to set an example to his men, Learmouth knelt 
and pra^^ed to the God of Battles in whom men have more than ever 
learned to put their trust. Learmouth took part vvith his battahon 
again in the fighting at Hill 70. In one of the innumerable counter- 
attacks delivered by the enemy, our men faced for the first time 
liquid fire. Men began to retire. Jumping on the parapet, Lear- 
mouth shouted, '^ Second Battalion, we hold this trench for Canada. 
Not a man must leave.'' With his revolver he shot down the 
leading attackers. Standing on the parapet he hm'led bombs 
at the enemy and drove them back, himself catching and returning 
bombs that were thrown at him. He was badly wounded and fell 
back into the trench. His men wanted to carry him out, but he 
refused to leave. His men assured him that the trench would be 
held as long as one of them was alive, for the Second battahon in 
all the years of the war has never lost an inch of groimd nor failed 
to take an objective. Learmouth fainted, and his comrades carried 
him out. He revived and recognized that he was near battahon 
headquarters. He insisted on seeing the battahon commander, 
reported the situation, what had occurred, and advised as to 
steps that might be taken to make the position more secure. He 
again fainted and never recovered consciousness. 

In these few paragraphs I have endeavoured to point out 
some of the salient characteristics of the Canadian soldier. Vigor- 



Introduction ix 

ous, clean-minded, good-humoured, unselfish, intelligent and 
thorough; not leaving anything to chance; fully imbued with a 
sense of their responsibility and the determination to win. The 
quahties distinctive of the race enabled him to become rapidly 
one of the best soldiers in the field. He is going back now to 
civil hfe still possessing these qualities, while having learned in 
addition the value of well-organized, collective effort, backed 
by discipline and self-restraint. The change from the indescribable 
sufferings endured on the battlefields to the normal conditions of 
life is so great that the mental readjustment necessary may require 
a little time and make a call on the sympathetic care of the nation, 
but I have every confidence that the period of transition will be 
short. Just as readily as the Canadian citizens became well- 
disciplined, hard-fighting soldiers, just as readily will the Canadian 
soldiers resume their former status of useful citizens, and their 
mutual tolerance, broad understanding, and wide outlook on 
things social and political will be a distinct asset to the Canadian 
future national Hfe. 

Finally, the Canadian soldier is leaving the mother land 
and going home filled with a deeper appreciation of the might, 
the majesty, and the power of our empire, more than ever con- 
vinced that Britain never unfurls her colours except in the cause 
of justice and right. Our empke has suffered much, but nobly 
responding to every call and to every duty, has won through in 
the good old-fashioned British way. 

Besides the material benefits that will accrue on the completion 
of peace, she has benefited greatly; she has learned to know herself, 
to know the true value of that sentiment which binds us so closely 
to the throne. Let us guard well the integrity of the British 
empire. The Canadians who have been spared in the providence 
of God are going home to their loved ones better equipped than 
ever to assume the duties and responsibihties of citizenship. They 
are going back to Canada, to that wonderful land of promise and 
of hope, the cherished land of freedom and a new chance, and as 
they have cheerfully borne untold hardships and suffering on the 
field of battle, and forgotten self for their comrades and their 
empire, I feel that when they return home they will take up their 
lives where they left off with a broader outlook, a more kindly 



X 



Introduction 



humanity, and a truer conception of the things really worth while 
than ever before. 

"Oh Canada, our heritage, our love, 
Thy worth we praise, all other lands above. 
From sea to sea, throughout thy length 
From pole to border land. 
At Britain's side whate'er betide 
Unilinchinglj'- we stand. 
With hearts we sing, God save the King, 
God bless our Empire wide, do we implore, 
And prosper Canada from shore to shore." 




London^ May 27, 1919. 




KING GEORGE V 
King of Great Britain and Ireland and Emperor of India, who struggled 
earnestly to prevent the war, but when Germany attacked Belgium sent the 
mighty forces of the British Empire to stop the Hun. 




CANADIAN GENERALS WHO HELD IMPORTANT COMMANDS 

Lt.-Gen. Sir R. E. W. Turner 

Maj.-Gen. F. 0. W. Loomis Maj.-Gen. Sir David Watson 

Maj.-Gen. L, J. Lipsett 
Maj.-Gei^.-A. C. McDonnell Maj.-Gen. Sir H. E. Burstall 

Maj.-Gen. M. S. Mercer 



PAGE 



111 



CONTENTS. 

Introduction by General Sir Arthur W. Currie 

CHAPTER 

I. The Great World War 

The Breaking Down of the German War Machine — The Warring Nations — 
Germany's Preparedness — The Great Initial Advantage of a "Nation in 
Arms" — The Work of the British Grand Fleet — Food and Ships — German 
Ruthlessness and the Tragedy of War — The Cost of War — The Psychology 
of Victory — ^WTiy Germany Failed 21 

II. Germany's Jealousy of Great Britain 

Underlying Causes of the War — Grandiose Scheme of World Conquest — 
Social and Industrial Conditions in Germany — Prussian Domination — 
Germany's Plan to Succeed England on the Seas — The Gospel of Hate, 
Unreciprocated by Great Britain — Germany Makes Her Opportunity — 
Declarations of War 32 



III. Kitchener's Army 

The Scrap of Paper that Brought Britain into the War — Swift Stroke of 
the Germans Through Belgium — ^Kjtchener Prophesies a Long War — The 
Making of a Great Army — The German War Machine and the British Navy 
Begin Operations ....." 45 

IV. The Empire Springs to Arms 

England's "Contemptibles" Arrive in France — Conditions in Great Britain 
— The British Colonies Rally to the Support of the Empire — Canada the 
First to Respond — Austraha, New Zealand, South Africa and India Offer Men 
and Money — The Effect of the Colonies' Offer Upon the Empire ... 59 

V. Canada in War Time 

Conditions in the Dominion at the Outbreak of War — ^Wave of Patriotism 
Sweeps the Country — Canada's Preparation for War — Sir Robert Borden 
Leads a United People — Mobihzation in Valcartier 76 

VI. The Retreat from Mons 

Seventy-five Thousand British Opposed by Two Hundred Thousand Germans 
— General French Conducts a Successful Fighting Retreat Against Over- 

(xiii) 



xiv Contents 

CHAPTER PAOB 

whelming Odds — French Government Removes to Bordeaux — Sudden 
Appearance of the Sixth French Army Confounds Von Kluck — The Battle 
of the Marne 88 



VII. First Canadian Contingent Sails for Europe 

In Training at Valcartier — Thirty-three Transports Filled with Canadian 
Soldiers Cross the Ocean — "To Fight for the Honour of the King and the 
Empire" — The Great Transport Fleet Reaches Plymouth 99 



VIII. Achievements of Russia and Japan 

Invasion of East Prussia — Strategy of the Grand Duke — The Russian 
Campaign — The War in the Far East — ^Kiao-Chau, Germany's Splendid 
Fortress in China Taken by Japan 112 



IX. The Canadians on Salisbury Plain 

Arrival in England — Review by the King — Lord Roberts Addresses the Men — 
Discomforts of an English Mid-winter — Off to the Front — Battle of the 
Aisne — The Race for Calais — First Battle of Ypres — Turkey in the War . . 123 



X. The Princess Patricia's in Action 

The War of Attrition — Canadians Arrive in France — The P. P. C. L. I-'s 
Under Fire — The Battle of Neuve Chapelle — Canadian Division Moves 
Northward to the Ypres Sahent — Winter Warfara 138 

XI. The War at Sea 

Bombardment of Defenseless English Towns — The Naval Battle of Dogger 
Bank — Von Spee Destroys British Squadron — Von Spee's Squadron De- 
stroyed by the British — Germany's Ruthless Submarine Warfare .... 151 

XII. The First Year of War 

The Fall of Przemysl — The Naval Bombardment of the Dardanelles — Mili- 
tary Methods of the Combatants — The War in South Africa 160 

XIII. Canadians Save the Situation at Ypres 

Personal Impressions of the Road from Poperinghe to Ypres — The Salient 
Where No Birds Sang— Poison Gas— The Ill-Fated City of Ypres— The 
Second Battle of Ypres in which the "Canadians Saved the Situation" — 
The Terrible Nature of Modern Warfare 177 



Contents - xv 

CHAFTEB PAGE 

XIV. The Battles of Festubert and Givenchy 

Fighting by the Light of Electric Flash Lamps in the Underground Galleries 
of the Labyrinth — The Bexhill Redoubt — Festubert and Givenchy Arouse 
England to the Situation — The Munitions Act 197 

XV. Fighting on Many Fronts 

Battle of Champagne — The Wonderful Story of GaUipoIi — The War in Meso- 
potamia — The Russian Front — Italy Enters the War — Bulgaria and the 
Balkans — The Serbian Retreat 207 

XVI. Canadian Troops Prove Their Metal 

Training the Second Canadian Division — "Plug Street" — Trench Raids — 
Formation of Third Canadian Division — Hooge and Sanctuary "Wood — 
Battle of the Craters — The Glorious Defence of Verdun — ^Austrian Attack in 
Trentino 233 

XVII. The Battle of Jutland 

German High Sea Fleet and British Grand Fleet Contrasted — Beginning 
of the Greatest Naval Battle in History — Beatty Fights Against Heavy 
Odds — Jellicoe's Flotillas in Action — The Fight in the Night — German 
Warships Steam Home — ^Losses — Death of Lord Kitchener 250 

XVIII. Canadian Corps in the Great Somme Offensive 

The Fourth Canadian Division in the Trenches — The Somme, a Tremendous 
Series of Battles — Second Division Takes Courcelette — The Tanks — Fourth 
Division Captures Regina Trench — The Russian Front — ^Rumania . . . 269 

XIX. German Methods of Kultur 

Atrocities in Belgium and France — Sinking of the Lusitania — ZeppeKn Raids — 
Naval Raids — Edith Cavell — Captam Fryatt 282 

XX. Canadian Corps Captures Vimy Ridge 

The Most Perfectly Organised and Successful Battle of the War — Details of the 
Secret Preparation — How the Surprise was Sprung — General Byng Commands 
Victorious Canadians — ^Recapture of Kut-el-Amara — The Fall of Bagdad . . 298 



XXI. Messines Ridge and Passchendaele 

The Attack on the Hindenburg Line — Capture of the Messines- Wytschaete 
Ridge — Lens and Hill 70 — Sir Arthur Currie in Command at Passchendaele — 
Canadian Corps Take Town after Desperate Battle — Fighting on the ItaUan 
Front — Sir Juhan Byng at Cambrai , 309 



xvi Contents 

CHAPTER PAGE 

XXII. Keeping Our Canadian Soldiers Fit 

Recreation and Relaxation — ^Y. M. C. A., Salvation Army and Church Army — 
Leave to Blighty— Baths— The Ubiquitous "Cootie" 332 

XXIII. The United States in the War 

Germany's U-Boat Campaign Ends America's Neutrahty — Congress Formally 
Accepts the Status of BeUigerent — Conscription — Army of 5,000,000 Planned . 341 



XXIV. The Russian Revolution 

Fall of the Russian Duma — The Czar Abdicates — Kerensky, Kornilov and 
Lenine — Bolshevism — Russia Out of the War 352 



XXV. With Our Backs to the Wall 

The First of the Desperate German Drives — The Attack on the Lys Front — 
The Drive at Paris — Foch in Supreme Command — The Enemy Halted — 
Italians Decisively Beat Austrians on the Piave River — War Aims . . . 364 

XXVI. The Glorious Affair of Zeebrugge 

Spirit of Nelson Still Present in British Navy — Intrepid Tars Bottle Up the 
Enemy's Submarine Base — ^An Example of Unparalleled Heroism . . . 384 

XXVII. The Canadian Auxiliary Services 

The Army Service Corps — The Canadian Engineers — Forestry — The Ordnance 
Service — Signal Corps — Veterinary Corps — Chaplain Service — Postal Corps — 
Pay and Record Office 393 

XXVIII. The Great Allied Drive 

The Recovery of Soissons — General Plan of British Operations — Drocourt- 
Queant Line Captured by Canadian Divisions — Americans Obliterate the 
St. Mihiel Sahent — ^Havrincourt — Development of the AlHed Plan — British 
Armies Storm the Canal du Nord and Gain Possession of the Whole of the 
Hindenburg Line — Germans Retreat from Belgium 402 

XXIX. From Amiens to Mons with the Canadians 

Canadians Fight and Overcome Ten German Divisions in the Battle of Amiens 
— Battle of Cambrai — Canadians Carry Monchy — Fifty-four Towns and 
Villages, including Cambrai, Liberated — Canadian Cavalry Rout the Enemy — 
Mons, the Last Stronghold to Fall — The Remarkable Story of the Canadian 
Corps in the Final Series of Great Canadian Battles 420 



Contents xvii 

CHAPTBSB PAQE 

XXX. The Collapse of the Enemy 

Bulgaria's Surrender — ^Austria's Defeat — Czecho-Slovaks and Jugo-Slavs 
Form National Executives — Turkey's Failure — Mesopotamia — The Conquest 
of the Holy Land 453 

XXXI. With the Canadian Airmen 

The Eyes of the Army — Spotting the Movement of Troops and Guns — 
Mapping the Country — ^Attacking the Enemy — Bombing Raids — ^Air Re- 
prisals — Canadians and the Royal Air Force 465 

XXXII. Britain's Effort History's Marvel 

Seven Distinct Campaigns — The British Navy — The Ferry to France — The 
Home Army — Feeding and Equipping the AlHes — Heaviest Fighting Falls 
on the British ^ 474 

XXXIII. Germany Pleads for Peace by Negotiation 

Broken, Crushed and Defeated, Germany Begs for Peace Through the President 
of the United States — Final Allied Blows — Situation on British Front Novem- 
ber llth — Mutiny in the German Navy — Revolution in Berhn .... 492 

XXXIV. The Fall of Kings and Empires 

The German Armistice — Fh'ght and Abdication of the Kaiser — Fall of the 
House of the Hapsburgs — Constantine Finds Haven in Switzerland — Ferdinand 
Steps Down as King of Bulgaria — Surrender of the German Fleet . . . 503 

XXXV. Canada's Official War Record 

A Condensed Account of Canada's Splendid Part in the World War, at Home 

as Well as in the Field 522 

XXXVI. The Peace Conference at Paris 

The Colossal Task that Awaited Lloyd George and Other Statesmen at the 
Conclusion of Hostilities — Aspirations of the Victorious Nations — The With- 
drawal of Italy 551 

XXXVII. The Treaty of Peace and League of Nations 

Germany Receives Terms of Peace at Versailles — Summary of the Treaty — 
Provisions of the League of Nations 561 

XXXVIII. The Canadian Army Medical Corps 

Warding Off Epidemics — Hospital Trains and Barges — Ambulances and 
Clearing Stations — The Red Cross — Canadian Dental Corps — A Fine Record 
of Efl&ciency 580 



xviii Contents 

CHAPTER PAGE 

XXXIX. The Social Upheaval Following the War 

Labour Unrest in Great Britain — Spartacan Revolt in Germany — Second 
Revolution in Hungary — Events in Austria — Bolsheviki Propaganda in 
Canada — Reconstruction Prosrammes 691 

XL. The Year of Victory 

Red-Letter Days — The Order in Which the Various Armistices were Granted — 
Principal Abdications of the War — ^How the War Altered the Map of Europe . 604 

The War at a Glance 606 



PREFACE 

The main purpose of writing this book is to give Canadians, 
in particular, a fair idea of the part that they and the people of 
the British Empire have played in the great world war recently 
ended, and to give it its proper relationship to the war as a whole. 

The Canadians won the war; so did Britain, France, the 
United States and the other AlUes: no one of them singly, all of 
them jointly. 

The work of each nation was of vital consequence at certain 
stages of the war, and many times ''the war was saved." In that 
sense the Belgians, by delaying the German army in the first days 
of the struggle and thereby enabling the French and British armies 
to mobihze, saved the situation. At the Marne the French, 
assisted by the British, definitely wrecked the German plan of 
winning an early victory. The Russians in the east, by their 
offensive, kept the Allies on the western front from being crushed 
by sheer weight of numbers. The assistance of Japan in supplying 
the Russians with munitions and equipment helped that nation 
to keep its armies in the field when its own supplies were inadequate. 

The British at the first Battle of Ypres and the Canadians at 
the second Battle of Ypres prevented the enemy from winning the 
Channel ports and bringing about a possibly fatal situation. The 
ItaHans broke the Austrian army and put Austria-Hungary out of 
business. In the last great crisis the Americans undoubtedly 
turned the tide with their moral and material resources. 

And away and above all, the British fleet from the day war 
was declared made the seas safe, thereby making it possible for 
land operations to be carried on. 

Yet though Canada, like any other country, did not of herself 
win the war it was generally acknowledged even by the highest 
British authorities that the Canadian Corps was the most effective 
fighting machine on the western front. Whenever there was a 
hard nut to crack the Canadian Corps was almost certain to be 
called upon to be the hammer. The Canadian Corps took Passchen- 
daele when all other troops had failed to take it. The Canadian 

(xix) 



XX 



Preface 



Corps seized the powerful bastion of Vimy Ridge which had cost 
the Hves of thousands of French and British soldiers in futile 
efforts to capture it. In the great Sonune offensive Canadian 
divisions were given some of the hardest positions to win, and 
Regina trench, Moquet farm, Zollem redoubt, Hessian trench and 
Courcelette stand to their credit. 

During the great German offensive the Canadian Corps, 
according to Field Marshal Haig's official report, was kept behind 
the most vital sector of the British front ready to be thrown into 
line if a break should occur. During that period the Canadian 
Corps was humorously called ^^The Salvation Army." 

In the first great offensive of the AlHes in July, 1918, the 
Canadian Corps, in company with the AustraHan Corps, tore 
through the German Hues in front of Amiens to a depth of 14,000 
yards, — the greatest advance ever made in a single day during 
the war. The Canadian Corps was selected to break the Drocourt- 
Queant switch Hne, considered by the Germans to be impregnable, 
and in an hour the Canadian boys had swept through that tangled 
jungle of wire and trenches. The Canadians were given the 
formidable Hindenburg line to smash and they did it, bursting 
through it at Cambrai in perhaps the hardest fought battle of 
the war. 

Such was the record which resulted in the Canadian Corps 
being called ''the spear-head of the British army." 

With the exception of two sacrifice guns placed in the front 
trenches at Mt. Sorrel, the Canadians never lost a gun. They 
never permanently lost a position. During the last two years 
they were never driven out of a captured position once consoHdated 
and consequently never went backward. These are facts. 

The glorious deeds of Canadians in the war need no fulsome 
praise — ''Good wine needs no bush." The plain narrative is 
sufficient to make one estimate them at their true value, and they 
should be known and appreciated by every Canadian. With that 
object in view it has been my pleasant endeavor, during many 
months of what would have otherwise been a long and tedious 
convalescence, to set down, in as simple and direct form as pos- 
sible, the plain story of the deeds of Canada's sons and the British 
Empire. 



CANADA'S SONS AND GREAT 
BRITAIN IN THE WORLD WAR 

CHAPTER I 
The Great World War 

On November 11, 1918, Germany, on the verge of a crushing 
defeat, threw up her hands and agreed to an armistice, the terms of 
which were the most humihating ever imposed upon a first-class 
nation. In another ten days Marshal Foch, commander-in-chief 
of the alUed forces, would have been in the position which the 
Germans had struggled for during four long years — the position 
of being able to destroy the enemy army. This alone, perhaps, 
could have taught the battle-loving Prussian the real meaning of 
war. Everywhere from July, 1918, onward, the alHed armies had 
been successful. In turn the French, the British, the Belgians, 
the ItaUans, the Serbs and the Americans had smashed through 
the German and Austrian lines and beaten down the resistance 
of German troops, protected by the most elaborate fortifications 
and ingenious devices that science could devise. 

From March till July with her armies re-enforced by tremen- 
dous numbers of men and guns, transferred from the disintegrated 
Russian front, Germany, on the Western front, had driven great 
wedges into the allied lines. She failed to break through. When 
it dawned upon the German people that their supreme miUtary 
effort had failed, German morale also failed. 

It was the last great effort of that arrogant people, who had 
already seen glimpses of the writing in the heavens; who reaHzed 
that defeated Russia could not be organized as a source of raw 
material and food, and who saw millions of fresh and eager Amer- 
ican troops pouring across the Atlantic to the aid of the Allies. 
The Germany allies were weakening daily and required that 
increased support which became more and more difficult to supply. 
Germany fully reahzed that this was to be her last opportunity 

(21) 



22 Canada's Sons in the World War 

of obtaining a military decision. She struck and failed, and at the 
moment she failed the initiative passed from her hands into those 
of the AUies. Under the leadership of the great French strategist, 
Foch, our armies struck and struck again until, reeling under 
the force of repeated blows, Germany's army fell back broken 
all along the line, and to save itself from utter destruction retired 
sullenly towards its own border. 

DEFYING THE WORLD 

When Germany defied the world she summoned to her aid the 
three autocracies, Austria-Himgary, Bulgaria and Turkey. Against 
these four autocracies twenty-four nations gradually arrayed 
themselves. At the beginning five nations only, France, Great 
Britain, Belgium, Russia and Serbia, were united against the Ger- 
man poHcy. Then as the full meaning of the struggle dawned 
upon the world, nineteen other nations, one by one, threw in their 
lot with the AlHes so that there were finally twenty-eight nations, 
representing one and a haK billions of people, directly engaged 
in the gigantic struggle. 

Fighting for the AlHes were men of every colour, black, white, 
red and brown. Every religion under the sun was represented, 
from the ancient Confucianism of the Chinese to the latest develop- 
ment of New Thought. Chinese coohes, Sikhs and Gurkhas from 
India, Senegalese from Africa, Maories from New Zealand, North 
American Indians and representatives of almost every cHmate 
under the sun rubbed shoulders in Northern France with British 
guardsmen, Alpine Chasseurs, Highlanders, AustraHans, Cana- 
dians, Portuguese and Americans. Never before in the 
world's history had so many races come together to fight 
in a common cause. Never before had a war resolved itself 
into so many separate campaigns. In China, in Southeast 
Africa, in Mesopotamia, in Palestine, in Macedonia, in Egypt, 
in GalHpoh, in Serbia, in Rumania, in Italy, in Russia, in 
Poland, in East Prussia, in GaHcia, in Belgium and in France the 
war was waged. 

Never before had it been possible to carry on war in the air 
or under the sea. New types of warfare had seriously modified 
the older methods and both reduced and amplified the reach and 
striking power of the belligerent nations, 



The Great World War 23 

Germany, with her magnificent machine-like army and her 
civilian population organized on the basis of a '' nation in arms" 
ready to co-operate to the full with the army in event of war; 
with her tremendous stores of equipment and vast quantities of 
guns and munitions made at first an admirable shomng and for 
four years won a series of victories. Yet on looking back we see 
that her very failures to break the alHed lines, such as occurred at 
the Marne and during the first battle of Ypres, were equivalent 
to great German defeats. For four years she won much territory 
and yet she was unable to destroy any of the armies of the first- 
class powers except that of Russia, which melted away through 
German propaganda and treachery and not from defeat in the 
field. 

THE ODDS WITH GERMANY 

All the odds were with Germany; her plan to destroy France, 
then settle with Russia and finally deal with Great Britain at her 
leisure was sound in theory but just failed of accompHshment. 
The unexpected delay caused by the Belgian resistance, the dogged 
fighting of the British in their retreat from Mons, the Hghtning 
strategy of the French at the battle of the Marne and their won- 
derful recuperative powers were just sufficient, at vital moments, 
to snatch victory from the Germans when it was almost within 
their grasp. Above all, the British Grand Fleet steaming silently 
through the mists of the North Sea, or waiting patiently in our 
northern harbours, steadily wove the web that was, slowly but surely, 
to strangle the Central Powers. With the German fleet bottled 
up, with her merchant ships rotting in German harbours, with the 
wharves of her great ports overgroT^n with grass and streets silent, 
with her exports shut in and her imports shut out, \\dth increasing 
lack of food, metals, rubber and other necessities, Germany slowly 
but surely languished. 

The last great attempt to achieve a military victory in 1918 
was an attempt to break the web which the navy had so steadily 
woven and which was now choking the very life out of her. With 
that despairing effort and the refusal of the German navy to meet 
the British fleet the end was inevitable and possibly would have 
occurred within a few months without a mihtary decision. 

At the opening of the war the superiority of Germany and 



24 Canada's Sons in the World War 

Austria in numbers of effectives and material was overwhelming. 
A year after war had begun she was manufacturing one hundred 
times as many high explosives as England. From the moment 
war was decided upon, the Civil Government of Germany virtually 
ceased to exist; the country was under martial law; every man, 
woman, child, mine, factory, railroad or store was at the practical 
disposition of the military authorities. There was no need for 
the Government to consider the opinions of the people as was the 
case in democracies. Germany had no further worries about a 
great many things. Her mercantile marine for example had gone 
out of business, the result of the 'inactivity" of the British Grand 
Fleet. The German navy was in the same condition. 

The Fatherland was reheved of all responsibihties regarding 
her colonies and the attendant problems of supplying them with 
troops and munitions. Her foreign commerce was off her hands. 
She had not allowed any previous engagements, understandings, 
conventions or moral scruples to interfere at any time with her 
freedom of action. 

Perhaps most important of all, Germany was seated in the 
centre of the sphere of action with her apphances of war all about 
her and a network of strategic railways reaching out in all direc- 
tions to her enemies' borders. She was able with an incalculable 
saving, as compared with her opponents, of time, labour, risk and 
expense to concentrate troops at this point, withdraw them from 
that, and send with despatch artillery, ammunition, troops and 
supplies as conditions demanded them from any one section of 
front to any other. The Allies working around the circumference 
of that circle, in countries devoid of strategic railway systems, 
were at a tremendous disadvantage from the very beginning. Only 
the skill and inventions of the.AlHes were able to overcome these 
initial handicaps at a tremendous cost of labour, material, men and 
money. 

BEHIND THE LINES 

The war was not decided upon the battlefield alone. Every 
patriotic civilian in the alhed countries of Europe as well as America 
who endeavoured to produce more food and do without unnecessary 
luxuries helped to win the war. During one phase it was the 
food which we grew and the food which we saved in America 



The Great World War 25 

which carried the allied people through a period of threatened 
starvation. 

The German submarines came very close to their objective 
of starving Great Britain, France and Italy by sinking food-laden 
ships from America. The U-boats were conquered by a margin 
that was very narrow. 

THE COST OF WAR 

The heaviest cost in proportion to population and losses 
sustained in national wealth through devastation by war was 
undoubtedly borne by the nations that were first invaded and 
bore the heaviest shock and destruction of battle. These were 
Poland, Serbia, France and Belgium. The losses of Poland are 
unknown, but must have been enormous, for that ancient battle- 
ground was harried and laid waste during successive German 
retreats. France, with a population of 40,000,000, suffered 4,500,000 
casualties and lost 1,400,000 in killed. It was estimated that 
250,000 houses in France were destroyed and that destruction 
of property amounted to $13,000,000,000. Belgium, with a pop- 
ulation of 8,000,000, had a casualty Hst of 100,000, with 30,000 
killed. Her monetary losses due to German mihtary occupation 
amounted to $1,400,000,000. Russia had a casualty list of 
9,150,000, with a loss of 1,700,000 in killed and 2,500,000 
prisoners. The British Isles, with a population of 60,000,000 
including the population of Canada, Australia, New Zealand, 
South Africa and Newfoundland, had a casualty Hst of 3,089,757, 
of which almost 1,000,000 were killed and missing. Of the British 
colonies Canada, with a population of 8,000,000, sustained 254,000 
casualties, of which 54,000 were killed or missing. These are included 
in the total of British losses. The United States, with a population 
of 100,000,000, sustained 236,117 casualties, of which 50,000 were 
killed or missing. Germany sustained 6,066,769 casualties. Austria 
had some 5,000,000 casualties. 

The cost of the war to Great Britain was $52,000,000,000; 
the total allied claims for indemnities amounted to $120,000,000,000, 

THE SILENCE OF THE BATTLEFIELD 

But no account of cost either in deaths, wounds or gold can 
convey any adequate idea of what war is or what German brutahty 



26 Canada's Sons in the World War 

has accomplished. The battlefield, even when the Hving have 
gone, is in itself terrible and terrifying. Even its silence can con- 
vey to the spectator some real idea of the horror of war. 

From Ypres to Noyon, a distance of one hundred miles, there 
exists the most appalhng desert, fifteen to fifty miles in width. 
In a land where before the war nearly 3,000,000 Belgian and French 
people lived there is nothing: villages, forests, shade and fruit 
trees, shrubs, hedges and buildings are all gone. Of a town or 
village there remain a few mounds of broken masonry and formless 
heaps of brick and debris sometimes blackened with charred ashes. 

Standing upon any sUght elevation you will see a land so 
torn with shell fire that it resembles a skeleton. Endless rows 
of rusty barbed wire, great shell holes, crumbhng dug-outs and 
thousands of crosses which themselves are beginning to tumble 
over, cover the landscape as far as the eye can see. It is a mon- 
strous waste without a survivor, without a single habitation, 
without a tree. Where there had been fertile fields, happy people 
and smiling villages nothing remains but desolation, tragic beyond 
expression. 

In the shell-torn fiats of the Ypres saUent alone nearly half 
a milhon men He, — men who had blocked the road to Calais. 
Between Ypres and the Somme in the land which holds no hving 
thing one and a haK m^Hon dead he sleeping. This desert was not 
caused by battle, it was the dehberate cold-blooded purpose of 
Hindenburg and the German army to create that desert. With 
the thoroughness with which Hindenburg laid waste Poland in 
his retreat before the Grand Duke the thing was done in France. 
Villages were destroyed, everything hving was cut down and every 
inanimate thing blown up, while the civihan population was driven 
away to die or be sustained by the bread of neutrals. Thus did 
the Germans dehberately create a desert in France, a desert sown 
with unexploded shells and the debris of battles, and planted 
with innumerable unexploded mines and booby traps. 

The Lens coal mining region, which annually produced 15,- 
000,000 tons of coal, the greater part of the French supply, is 
an area of razed houses and splintered beams. Machinery which 
could not be moved was smashed and the mines flooded. Every 
house was dynamited, and utter ruin prevails in that region which 
is a key to the industry of France. 



The Great World War 27 

Looms, of which there were hundreds of thousands in the Httle 
villages and hamlets of the invaded regions of France and Belgium, 
were carried away or deliberately destroyed, so that when the war 
was over the French and Belgian people would be unable to work 
and Germany would obtain a great lead in the industrial war to 
come. Such were the results of war in a country invaded by Ger- 
many. Such were the results produced by the deliberate destruction 
of a brutahzed people whose degraded minds had adopted the behef 
that force alone must win. 

The war cost the world altogether some 33,000,000 casualties, 
of which approximately 7,500,000 are dead. 

For four years the Germans had successfully withstood the 
whole civiUzed world arraigned against them. In spite of inferi- 
ority in numbers and resources they were able to add victory 
after victory to their astonishing record. At the beginning they 
were superior to the Alhes in the number of men and their perfect 
organization. After the first year, realizing that they had reached 
their climax in numbers and must steadily decrease while the alHed 
forces must increase, they concentrated upon their resources of 
science and industry. They produced a tremendous preponderance 
of artillery, machine guns and shells designed to keep the man- 
power of the Allies at bay and destroy it while they conserved their 
own decreasing man-power. They had implicit faith in their 
superiority and in the beUef of their invincibiUty. In arms and 
leadership their morale was sustained. 

LEADERSHIP PASSES TO ALLIES 

In July, 1918, Foch was able to demonstrate to the German 
masses that the superiority of leadership had passed definitely and 
permanently to alUed arms. They knew that the advantage which 
they had enjoyed for four years had been snatched from them 
and their cause had become hopeless. That was the beginning of 
the end and the decHne was swift. 

The complete breakdown of the morale of Germany is a dra- 
matic episode in the history of modem times and bordered on the 
sensational. Only four months before the end the allied cause 
was in the greatest danger and it required all the fortitude and 
faith of the aUied peoples to carry on. The critics predicted that 
by midsummer of 1919 with the coming of 4,000,000 Americans 



28 Canada's Sons in the World War 

the tide would turn and the war would end within at least two 
years. The mathematical exactitude of the critics in the estimation 
of bayonets, guns and available reserves was impressive. 

BY FAITH THE WAR WAS WON 

The psychic element as a decisive factor did not make any appeal 
to them, for it was not believed that psychic element could stand 
against machine guns. Nevertheless the complete breakdown 
of the German home front before the miUtary front was decisively 
crushed was the final factor. The German home front broke down 
because it was inferior psychically to the alHed home front. 

It was faith that won the great war for the AUies. As soon 
as the Germans beheved that they were not going to win the war 
they went to pieces, and the Alhes, who all along beheved that 
victory must eventually be theirs, went over them hke a steam- 
roller. The best critics believed that from a purely mihtary stand- 
point the AUies were due to win the war in late 1919 or early 1920. 
The break in the German morale and the strengthening of our 
own through America coming into the arena shortened the war 
by at least one year. It was a fine demonstration of the fact that 
he who takes into account only material forces will never reach 
correct results. 

The alhed morale and the German morale are spoken of as 
though similar, yet they are so unlike that the difference between 
them has gone far to win the war. 

There are two elements that constitute morale, the belief 
that one's cause is just and that right cannot be defeated, and 
the knowledge that one has superiority of arms and cannot be 
defeated. The dominating factor in alUed morale was faith in the 
righteousness of their cause; the beUef in their mihtary superiority 
being secondary. 

In German morale the dominating factor was beUef in their 
mihtary superiority; faith in the justice of their cause was a sec- 
ondary consideration. In either case the crushing of the domi- 
nating element in the national morale would rapidly result in a 
crumbling of resistance. If the AUies were brought to believe 
that they were wrong morally they could not go on fighting, no 
matter how much they beheved in their nnlitary superiority. 
If the Germans were convinced that they could not win the war 




© Underwood and Underwood 

MARSHAL FERDINAND FOCH 

Generalissimo of the Allied Forces in the Great War from March, 1918. 



The Great World War 31 

they could not go on, no matter how much they beUeved m the 
justice of their cause. 

In defeat the alHed morale was stubborn and inflexible because 
no amount of force could destroy faith in the justice of their cause. 
German morale gave way because it required but a sHght pre- 
ponderance of force to destroy faith in their military superiority. 
That is precisely what happened to German morale in July, 1918. 

THE PASSING OF GERMAN KULTUR 

The question is often asked, ''Was it worth while; was not 
the cost too great?" There can be no second answer to that. With 
the destruction of autocracy and the bhght of militarism removed; 
with the passing of German Kultur and all that the German menace 
implied; mth the spread of new ideas as to liberty throughout 
the earth, and with the increased opportunities that T\ill be afforded 
to the people at large to become better educated, and obtain their 
just share of material comfort and happiness, the world has undoubt- 
edly made a gigantic step forward and entered upon a new era 
of progress. 

Germany had woven a legend as to her invincibihty which 
she ahnost succeeded in forcing the world to beUeve. She made 
her own people during many long years hate and despise France 
and England. Yet when she precipitated the war she knew that 
hate, even to a German, had not a strong enough appeal and 
invented the fable that she had been attacked and was waging the 
warfare in defence of The Fatherland. 

Above all, believing in material more than in spiritual forces 
she laboriously and with infinite patience builded a war machine 
that could not fail. And this superb military machine did fail 
when it was confronted \sdth those other forces, call them spiritual 
if you will, which the AlUes possessed, — beUef in the righteous- 
ness of their cause; that justice should not perish; that might was 
not necessarily right; that utter extinction was preferable to 
existence under the rule of a people whose every principle of national 
ethics, morahty and justice was wrong. 



CHAPTER II 
Germany's Jealousy of Great Britain 

The underlying causes responsible for the World War are 
even yet not perfectly understood. Years must elapse before 
these causes can be fully comprehended and the future historian 
with all the facts, data and memoirs yet to be ^Titten views the 
whole in perspective, and pieces together the scattered bits of 
evidence. Then only will the true be separated from the false 
and opinion sifted from fact. 

The incident at Sarajevo was only the match which kindled 
the great conflagration. The material for it had long been in 
course of preparation. When the time was opportune the murder 
in the Balkans served as the necessary excuse — the chance spark 
destined to set the whole world ablaze and snuff out the hves 
of 7,500,000 men. 

The evidence at hand, nevertheless, is overwhelming in 
estabhshing the fact that Germany for at least thirty years had 
been deliberately preparing for war and was, at the end, directly 
responsible for it. Bismarck had by a series of master-strokes 
consolidated the numerous German principahties into the German 
Empire under the domination of Prussia. He had, by his final 
victorious campaign against France in 1870, proved to the satis- 
faction of the German people that war pays. This behef created 
by Bismarck, and carefully nurtured by the Prussian mihtary caste, 
was bound sooner or later to prove itself. 

The huge indemnity exacted from France in 1870 had been 
used to foster German industry and the German nation gradually 
emerged from a condition of poverty. Her people were both 
industrious and frugal and the national wealth of Germany in 
consequence grew rapidly. Gradually also she built up a gigantic 
merchant marine to carry her export goods to the four quarters of 
the globe. As her wealth grew she increased her mihtary strength 
until it became the most powerful in Europe. Her universities 
also became famous for scientific research, and attracted thousands 

(22) 



Germany's Jealousy of Great Britain 33 

of students from civilized countries all over the world. Though 
Wagner and Kant were the last of their kind and no successors had 
arisen from a great mass of mediocrities to take their places, their 
traditions persisted, and no musician or philosopher in America 
thought his studies complete until he had spent at least one year 
in The Fatherland. The word ^^ German ^^ became a sort of fetish 
when appHed to anything save cheap manufactured goods, for the 
German Government had learned the art of advertising and assidu- 
ously published the superior quahties of the German mind and 
German goods the world over. 

German professors worked for ridiculously small pay; their 
work was more to them than money and it was honoured. A Herr 
Professor in a German imiversity took second place only to a 
lieutenant in the Imperial army or navy. They were excellent 
plodding academicians, capable of painstaking, laborious work 
which sometimes resulted in a discovery such as that of Ehrhch, 
when, after six hundred and six chemical experiments, he Ht upon 
a cure for a hitherto incurable disease — a cure which was immedi- 
ately patented and resulted in another great German industry. 
It was noteworthy that no German scientist gave his discoveries 
to the world to alleviate human suffering as had the immortal 
Pasteur of France. German scientific discoveries were always pat- 
ented and capitalized. 

When the German Empu^e was born in the time of Bismarck 
most of the mental products that Germany had been famed for 
disappeared. Goethe, Schiller, Beethoven and many of the great 
masters of mxusic, literature, philosophy and history had been the 
subjects of the smaller principahties which went to make up the new 
German Empire. After 1870, in art, literature and in the realms 
of pure thought, Germany steadily decHned. She became content 
with mediocrities; she had turned her face towards material things 
and materialism invaded every phase of German life and 
character. 

Bismarck in 1862 said: '^The great questions are to be settled, 
not by speeches and 'majority resolutions,' but by blood and iron.'' 
In that speech Bismarck tried to establish the principle that force 
was more pov/erful than ideas, a lie that countless ages has disproved. 
The phrase ^' Might makes right" became the watchword of official 
modern Germany, 



34 Canada's Sons in the World War 

Nietzsche, a mystic poet and philosopher of Polish origin, 
who himself despised the Germans, taught that to be great the 
superman power is the only thing worth seeking, and that to 
attain this end all means are justifiable. He despised the morality 
of Christianity as something suitable for slaves only. The doctrine 
of Nietzsche that might may be right, combined with the material- 
istic thought of the teachers of modern German schools, resulted 
in a frame of mind suitable for the reception of teachings like 
those of Treitschke, the historian. 

Treitschke taught that war Vv^as the great cleansing process 
for a nation, that true religion was the rehgion of valour, and 
that the absence of war would convert humanity into races of 
selfish nonentities. His teachings were not allied to religion 
and soon the new German school sank into a coarse materialism. 
The "magnificent blonde beast, avidly rampant for spoil and 
victory,'^ became the national idea. Commercial success, militarism 
and a Kaiser who assumed himself to be the chosen instrument of 
God, and a philosophy divorced from ethics, united to foster in 
Germany a wonderful national self-satisfaction and an inordinate 
national ambition, with force as the accepted ideal, and the methods 
and ideals of the army saturating the whole national life. The 
army came to be all-powerful in Germany and the Prussian military 
class became the real governing caste. 

The Prussians, a mixture of Slav, Teuton and Finn, are unim- 
aginative people with a wonderful ability for organization. Every- 
thing is worked out by them according to plan and in the building 
up of German commerce, their education system and their army, 
they, as the dominating race, toiled ceaselessly and produced such 
marvellous results that success made them drunk. 

The governing class of Germany came, in the opinion of 
the world, to be centred in the great German General Staff, and 
the methods of the army became the methods of the nation. Both 
the army and the nation were drilled to work and obey. The 
nation thought as the autocratic powers dictated it should think. 
The press, the pulpit, the educational system, and even the uni- 
versities all became agents in the great task of making the varied 
constituent nations of the empire think as one. These teachings 
all inculcated the beUef that the German people was the super- 



Germany's Jealousy of Great Britain 35 

race, that sooner or later this super-nation would be compelled to 
assert itself and make a bid for world domination. 

As a great industrial power Germany had come to realize 
her need for colonies to produce supplies and raw material for her 
manufactures, and, looking about, she saw that most of the countries 
worth while had already been pre-empted. Few lands remained 
that other nations had not already taken; wherever she turned she 
found Britain and France before her, and she began to realize that 
the only way to the position she coveted would be over the prostrate 
bodies of one or other of these nations. Emperor ¥/ilhelm became 
more and more obsessed with the ambition to transform the German 
Empire from a continental to a world power and, with that objective 
ever before him, steadily pursued the policy which he expected 
would finally give Germany v/orld domination. 

The acquisition and retention of colonies by any power now- 
adays demands a navy, and in the year 1900 the first navy bill 
of Germany was brought forward. Taking advantage of successive 
waves of anglophobia, Germany voted great sums of money, and by 
1914 had succeeded in building up a navy second only to thp.t of 
Great Britain among the navies of the world. In the same year 
she increased her peace strength to 870,000 which placed her 
easily above any other military nation in the world. 

But as her own strength grew Germany saw her opportunities 
of obtaining a place in the sun by peaceful means steadily decreasing. 
The world looked askance at her steady development in military 
and sea power, and as a consequence the Triple Entente in Europe 
became an alliance. 

The Contemporary Review of April, 1892, contained an article 
entitled ''Wilhelm" which created some stir at that time. It 
T^'as supposed to have been written by one of Bismarck's camp 
and is briefly summarized as follows: 

Long before he had come to the throne the character of Prince 
Wilhelm had excited exceptional curiosity and an amount of sym- 
pathy for his well-known defect, a withered arm. Great things 
were prophesied for him by some. On the other hand he had 
not long left the University of Bonn when it was whispered that he 
was a man of little heart, of inordinate vanity and capable of 
great want of consideration for others, though all these qualities 
were dwarfed by an ever-present restlessness. Wilhelm, to learn 



36 Canada's Sons in the World War 

statecraft, was placed for a time under a high administrative 
official who called him a '^ modern being," meaning a superficial 
individual who loved noisy notoriety. The fear spread in Germany 
that the ultimate consequences of the Emperor's departure from 
Bismarck's foreign pohcy would prove disastrous. Little public 
expression of this was heard because the press of Germany does 
not fill the same position as that of England in giving the full voice 
to pubHc opinion, and patriotism instinctively silences many who 
fear to discuss what they feel they are powerless to change. The 
Emperor's intellectual stock-in-trade was said to consist mainly of 
the gift of quickly grasping the outward aspect of many things. 
Thus he pretended a species of plausible affectation for Hterature, 
but reading had been to him for years a physical impossibihty, 
for all of his time had been filled up with hunting parties, yachting, 
torpedo boat trips, railway journeys, festive banquets, christenings, 
weddings, military manoeuvres and similar efi'orts. His shallow 
briUiancy and his position produced a glamour which sufficed for 
the time to dazzle and incite the admiration of many like the 
enthusiastic reporter who wrote home after being the Emperor's 
guest at manoeuvres 'Hhat another Frederick the Great was the 
least that the world had to expect," forgetting that these showy 
gifts are ever, except in such rare cases as that of Napoleon, the 
almost infalHble signs of superficiaUty. 

Perhaps the most ominous joint product of the Emperor's 
vanity and superficiaUty combined was the megalomania which 
he seemed to be developing at an alarming rate. This mega- 
lomania showed itseK in a diseased estimate of the relative pro- 
portion of things, and caused the deepest anxiety in Germany, 
because it was feared that it would lead to some irreparable want 
of tact and then to war. It was argued that, vanity being at the 
bottom of it all, the Emperor would thirst for a premature immor- 
tality. Unable to gain it by peaceful methods, his restless nervous 
irritabihty would degenerate into a recklessness which would blind 
him to danger and lead to war. The danger of this was apparent 
when we know that the Prussian military party in Berlin was eager 
for an early war with Russia and was strongly optimistic as to 
its probable results. Doubts were expressed with regard to the 
quahties of heart of the Emperor. It was beheved that he was 
endowed with as much heart as his vanity left room for, — of the 



Germany's Jealousy of Great Britain 37 

emotional surface variety. He possessed an exaggerated boisterous 
bonhomie which was typical of his superficial, praise-loving, ego- 
tistical nature. 

Referring to the necessity of controlling egotism, the article 
said: '^It is a fight which not only the German Emperor, but each 
of us, must wage if he would conquer the spirit of crass self -advertis- 
ing egotism which more or less pervades our time.'* 

Bismarck said of this article: '^Whoever wrote it knew what 
he was writing about, for what it states is true." 

A few years ago Whitman set down his personal experiences 
of changes which had gradually come over Germany in the previous 
twenty-five years. He did not believe that any one man, even 
though tjie Emperor, was responsible for the stupendous develop- 
ment and change of Germany. The whole country had gone back 
on the tenets of thought and conduct of its past. One serious Ger- 
man periodical stated that the ideals of Goethe, dominant fifty 
years ago, were not held by two thousand Germans of the present 
day. 

But Whitman held that, though an autocrat could not originate 
the hallucination of a whole people, he could act as a centre of 
infection when there was a predisposition to the disease. The 
readiness of the German nation to become infected with ill-digested 
ideas from above he thought due to the parvenu character of 
latter-day Germany. Through that channel it was possible for 
the Emperor to exert a pernicious influence upon the German 
people of which he was a faithful mirror and exponent. His passion 
for military parades and theatrical situations was symptomatic of 
this Emperor who reflected the surface flotsam and jetsam of the 
nation with little thought or knowledge of the deeper impulses of 
the soul of the nation. 

Knowing well the bent of the Emperor's mind, which had 
long been one of envy and jealousy of England, it had become an 
unconscious habit with those who wished to retain his favour to 
minister thereto, and this applied from Marshal Von Bieberstein 
to Biilow. 

In Emperor Wilhelm, Germany possessed a ruler after her 
own heart. In 1890 he dropped the old pilot Bismarck and became 
his own adviser. A man of immense energy, he assumed all knowl- 
edge to be his province. His adventures in scholarship, art and 



38 Canada's Sons fn the World War 

theology were viewed with amusement outside of Germany, but his 
highly impressionable mind registered every wave of feehng of his 
people, and he was believed to put into garish rhetorical speech 
what his people desired to thinlc. The Kaiser did not direct but, 
rather, reflected German opinion. He was the product of his people. 

It was common knowledge that for many years Germany, 
intoxicated by her success in war and by her increase of wealth, 
had regarded the British Empire with eyes of jealousy and hatred. 
She had no reason for so doing. With all theu^ malevolence Germans 
could never give an exam^ple of a bad turn done them until their 
dehberate poUcy had forced the British people into antagonism. 

That Germans hated the British with a most bitter hatred, 
was repeatedly shown in their hterature and in their press. Some- 
times, as at the time of the Jameson raid, it flared up into out- 
spoken bitterness. In the United Kingdom the feehng was in no 
way reciprocated. Two events occurred, however, which made the 
easy-going Briton look more intently and enquiringly at his distant 
cousin over the water. Those two events were the Boer War 
and the building of the German fleet.. The first showed the ugly 
disposition which Germany had to do the British people mischief, 
and the second made them reahze that she was forging the weapon 
with which that mischief was to be accomphshed. 

It was an open boast that Germany would succeed Great 
Britain upon the seas. The Kaiser in a message to the Russian 
Czar pompously said: ^'The Admiral of the Atlantic greets the 
Admiral of the Pacific. '^ The British recognized the situation and 
the Entente Cordiale was the answer to the German fleet. ''They 
had discovered their enemy: it became necessary to find their 
friends.^' The "splendid isolation^' of the Victorian period was no 
longer possible, and the Entente became -a reality. King Edward, 
by his personal ability, probably accomphshed more than any 
government in bringing together the coterie of nations that ended 
the dangerous situation for his empire. 

Casting about her and sizing up the situation about the time 
the Kiel Canal was being completed, it seemed to Germany that 
her opportunity was almost at hand. Great Britain, engaged in 
sociahstic reform, with a rebelhon imminent in Ireland, and labour 
unrest general throughout the country, appeared to Germany a 
ramshackle nation whose colonies would fall away on the first 




Canadian Official Photograph 



Copyright reserved 



H. R. H. THE PRINCE OF WALES 

Inspecting a Canadian Machine Gun Battalion on the Valenciennes front. The 
Prince is seen talking to a company sergeant-major. 



Germany's Jealousy of Great Britain 41 

signs of war. France seemed in her eyes to be decadent; Russia 
had not fully recovered from her war with Japan, though she was 
making wonderful strides in reform and building up a remodelled 
army system. Germany feared the great Slav Empire of Russia 
and distrusted the new signs of her awakening to her potentialities. 

There were also internal reasons in Germany for going to war. 
The swashbuckling of the army officer and the fear inspired by 
him began to pall upon the German civilian. In the town of Zabern 
in Alsace in 1913 a German Heutenant cut a lame cobbler over the 
head with his sword because the cobbler had failed to salute. 
The officer was sentenced, then acquitted, but the popular indigna- 
tion which occurred in the Reichstag in consequence thereof 
resounded throughout Germany and was not lost upon the great 
general staff. The taxes for the army and navy were becoming 
very onerous and the nation could not be expected to tolerate them 
indefinitely. Socialism, apparently antipatriotic in character, had 
grown to tremendous proportions in Germany. The results of 
German industry and German efficiency were impressive, but 
German business was constructed on a basis of credit; as long as the 
machinery kept going everything was all right, but, should there be 
a sudden halt, such as that occasioned by a general strike, the 
result might prove disastrous. 

In 1914 the Kiel Canal was finished, permitting the German fleet 
to pass at will from the Baltic into the North Sea. Several years 
before a British admiral is said to have stated that war would 
probably occiu- in the year in which the Kiel Canal was finished. 

Taking all things into consideration it seemed to Germany 
that her hoiu" was about to strike; that ^'The Day'' was nigh at 
hand. A short and successful war, as in 1870, would bring again 
into the German war chest huge indenmities that would pay the 
cost of her great war organization and set the nation permanently 
on a solid financial basis. She would take from prostrate France 
the colonies she desired and put an end to the Russian peril for 
some time to come. Then at her leisure, with her coffers refilled, 
her navy enlarged and a great triumph behind her she would deal 
with the rest of the world at her convenience. Germany was 
crowded for room and had to expand. 

It was a grandiose scheme of world conquest and, according 
to German psychology, impossible of failure. She was thoroughly 



42 Canada's Sons in the World War 

prepared for war. She would strike down France with the full 
weight of her army, while Austria held Russia in check. Then, 
with France prostrate she would turn to Russia and with Austrian 
and Turkish aid would destroy the Russian giant. With these 
antagonists removed from the arena she would be in a splendid 
position to deal with Great Britain and the United States, and 
eliminate two of the great forces that stood in her way to world 
domination. It was the British fleet that blocked Germany^s 
progress on every side and the Monroe Doctrine which prevented 
her schemes of aggrandizement in South America. 

Over a long period of years Germany had been accumulating 
information in every country under the sun upon every conceivable 
subject, and considered herself to be famihar with the situation 
in every country. She had reduced treachery to a fine art. France, 
Russia, Great Britain, Italy and the United States particularly 
were honeycombed with spies. What could not be accomplished 
by force it was confidently hoped would be brought about by 
treason. It was a great plan and even today, viewed in retrospect, 
it looks as though it should have proved successful, it was so logical. 
But it is the unexpected that always dislocates the best-laid plans. 
Germany did not count on Belgian resistance nor on Britain's 
entrance into the war; she did not count on Russia's abihty to 
mobihze her army so rapidly; she did not count on Italy and the 
United States ultimately throwing in their lot with the Allies. 

On June > 28, 1914, in the city of Sarajevo, the capital of 
Bosnia, the Archduke Francis Ferdinand, heir to the Austrian 
throne, was murdered while driving through the streets. That 
was the spark that set fire to the powder magazine of Europe. 

Nearly a month later, on July 23d, the Austro-Hungarian 
Government presented its demands to Serbia, demands designed 
ostensibly to make a recurrence of such an act on the part of 
Serbia impossible. The Austrian Note, which startled the govern- 
ment of every country in Europe, except Germany, embodied a 
number of drastic demands upon Serbia. The complete acceptance 
of the note meant that Serbia must yield her independent nationality 
and come under the domination of Austria. 

The German ambassadors in London, Paris, and St. Petersburg 
announced that Germany approved of the substance and form of the 
Austrian Note. Serbia refused to submit to the demands of Austria 



Germany's Jealousy of Great Britain 43 

and called upon Russia, who advised her to accede to all but the 
two demands which referred to her autonomy, and to have these two 
demands referred to the Hague Tribunal. This request was refused 
by Austria, and the Austro-Hungarian minister, demanding his 
passports, left Belgrade on July 28th. 

Thereafter followed a week of feverish diplomatic effort to 
prevent war and bring about a settlement. Sir Edward Grey, the 
British Foreign Secretary, laboured ceaselessly to the last moment 
to maintain peace and to estabhsh the honesty of British purpose 
in the eyes of the world. France and Italy agreed to a conference 
in London to mediate in the Austro-Serbian quarrel. Germany 
refused. Thereafter events marched rapidly. 

On July 28th Austria declared war on Serbia and bom^barded 
Belgrade. Belgium had ordered mobilization. Germany had 
recalled her High Seas Fleet and the concentration of the British 
fleet was proceeding. 

Russia had also ordered partial mobilization. On the same 
day the German Imperial Chancellor proposed to Great Britain 
that she should stand aside, allow France to be stripped of her 
colonies and allow of the violation of Belgian neutrality. Of 
course these treacherous demands were immediately refused by 
Great Britain. 

On July 31st Germany declared a state of war to exist, issued 
an ultimatum to Russia, and on August 1st declared war upon her. 

On August 3d, Sir Edward Grey made a speech before the 
British House of Commons on the events which had led up to the war. 

On August 4th, upon hearing that German troops were in 
Belgium, Sir Edward Grey wired the British Ambassador, Sir E. 
Goschen, to ask that Germany respect Belgium's mshes in regard 
to neutrality, but no reply was given by Germany. The British 
Ambassador was handed his passports and shortly afterwards 
Britain declared war. 

The following is a list of the Declarations of War which oc- 
curred during the struggle extending from July, 1914, to Novem- 
ber, 1918, in the order of their occurrence: 

1914 

July 28. Austria-Hungary declares war on Serbia. 

August 1. Germany declares war on Russia. 

" 3. German V declares war on France. 



44 



Canada's Sons in the World War 



August 


4. 


u 


4. 


It 


6. 


It 


7. 


11 


8. 


t( 


12. 


i( 


23. 


ii 


25. 


ti 


28. 


November 


5. 


1915 




May 
October 


23. 
14. 


i( 


15. 


a 


17. 


It 


19. 


1916 




March 


9. 


It 


15. 


August 


27. 


tt 


28. 


tt 


28. 


tt 


31. 


1917 




April 

ti 


6. 

. 7. 


tt 


8. 


It 


20. 


June 


18. 


July 

August 
tt 


22. 

7. 

14. 


October 


6. 


11 


26. 


December 


8. 


ti 


10. 


It 


11. 



Germany at war with Belgium. 

Great Britain at war with Germany. 

Austria-Hungary at war with Russia. 

Montenegro at war with Austria. 

Serbia at war with Germany. 

Great Britain at war with Austria-Hungary. 

Japan at war with Germany. 

Austria at war with Japan. 

Austria declares war on Belgium. 

Great Britain and France declare war on Turkey. 



Italy declares war on Austria-Hungary. 

Bulgaria at war with Serbia. 

Great Britain declares war on Bulgaria. 

France at war with Bulgaria. 

Italy and Russia at war with Biilgaria. 



Germany declares war on Portugal. 
Austria-Hungary at war with Portugal. 
Rumania declares war on Austria-Hungary. 
Italy at war with Germany. 
Germany at war with Rumania. 
Bulgaria at war with Rumania. 



United States declares war on Germany. 

Cuba and Panama at war with Germany. 

Austria-Hungary breaks with the United States, 

Turkey breaks with the United States. 

Haiti breaks with Germany. 

Siam at war with Germany and Austria. 

Liberia at war with Germany. 

China at war with Germany and Austria-Hungary. 

Peru and Uruguay break with Germany. 

Brazil at war with Germany. 

Ecuador breaks with Germany. 

Panama at war with Austria-Hungary. 

United States at war with Austria-Hungary. 



1918 



February 1. Argentine breaks off diplomatic relations with 

Germany. 
July 15. Haiti at war with Germany. 



CHAPTER III 
Kitchener's Army 

It was well known to the student that Germany had been 
preparing for conquest for thirty years. In April, 1913, a volume 
published by His Imperial Highness, the German Crown Prince, 
and dedicated to the Emperor, said : 

It is the holy duty of Germany, above all the other peoples of our 
old earth, to maintain an army and a fleet ever at the highest point of 
readiness. Only then, supported by our own good sword, can we preserve 
the place in the sun which is our due, but which is not voluntarily con- 
ceded to us. Certainly diplomacy can and must play its part . . . but 
just as lightning settles the conflict of the electrical forces in the skies, 
so the Sword will be the ultimate deciding factor in the world until the 
world disappears. 

In May of the same year the German Government endeav- 
oured to obtain the consent of the Dutch Government for the 
establishment of a public harbour and works on the New Waterway. 
The works were to be those of the Vulcan Company controlled 
by a great German firm of iron and steel interests. This would 
give Germany the opportunity, on the broad deep channel which 
gave access to Rotterdam on the northeast, to manipulate Holland 
and make her subservient to German policies and ambitions. 

On June 30th the German Army Bill was finally passed with- 
out serious opposition. It gave the German Military Power, 
which was already the greatest in Europe, an army of 814,000 
men on a peace footing and this could be increased by 400,000 men 
on the very day of mobilization. It was estimated in a report 
submitted to the Emperor that the total wealth of the nation 
was seventy-eight billion dollars with an annual income of eleven 
billion dollars. 

Germany believed that England would not enter the war. 
She knew that there was an utter unreadiness for war in the Brit- 
ish Empire except in regard to its naval strength. To Germany 
there were various and obvious signs of decadence in the British 

(45) 



46 Canada's Sons in the World War 

Isles. Social extravagance, class friction, socialistic propaganda, 
labour troubles and political bitterness were rampant. There 
were clear signs of disintegration and civil war in Ireland, of con- 
flict between the military and civil power in England, of friction 
between the religious forces of the United Kingdom. There were, 
moreover, in Canada, India and other colonies, difficulties which 
Germany believed would prevent any immediate aid being given 
to the empire, even though the colonies should be so inclined. 
By her preparations Germany had brought about a situation 
which was summed up by Coimt Witte, one of Russians great 
statesmen, in the words: 

Wheji and how will it all end? Unless the great states which have 
set this hideous example agree to call a halt, so to say, and knit their 
subjects into a pacific unity, European war is the only issue I can perceive, 
and when I say war, I mean a conflict which will surpass in horror the 
most brutal conflicts known to human people, and entail distress more 
widespread and more terrible than living man can realize. 

For many years the belief had been quite generally accepted 
by the British and French staffs that when war did come, Germany 
would strike at France through Belgium. It was natural, then, 
that the Belgian country should have proved a favourite study 
for the staff officers of the aUied countries as well as Germany, 
and, in consequence, every foot of it was known most thoroughly. 

For an intelligent understanding of the war on the western 
front it is important to grasp certain simple facts which make 
succeeding events imderstandable and interesting. An invasion 
of France, to the German commander-in-chief, would be deter- 
mined by two considerations: the first would be the nature of the 
path imposed upon him by the configuration of the landscape 
and the defences of the frontier; the second would be the neces- 
sity of obtaining a rapid decision by a blow that would disable 
the French army. 

The French frontier on the east may be divided into three 
parts: the first, a line from Belfort to Verdun; the second, the 
line of the Central Mouse; and the third, that of the Belgian 
border along the line Maubeuge- Valenciennes-Lille. The German 
armies advancing against France on these three sectors would, 
of necessity, move with different speeds. In the first sector an 
army would be held up by the fortress barrier, and in the second 



Kitchener's Army 



47 



by the difficult nature of the Ardennes. In the third sector only, — 
that of Belgium, — where the country was open and the antiquated 
fortresses far apart, would speed be possible. This, then, was 
Ukely to be the area through which the Germans would attempt 
the crushing blow. 

The outflanking of the alHed left front in France would also 
give the enemy the best chance of obtaining an immediate deci- 
To pierce the line elsewhere would be a far more difficult 



sion. 



task. Though the German army would advance all along the 




rn A N c E ""^^^ 



VIENNA 



Beifono ^ 



'<*-%S£^-V>w-'^ AUSTRIA - HUNGARY 

X*SWlTZESLAHDv "^ 



Germany's Strategic Railways 
This map of the railways connecting France and Belgium with Russia and Austria, 
shows how the Germans were able to transfer troops east or west as pressure of the 
AlHes demanded. 



front and pin down the French armies, it would be the main object 
of the German High Command to advance with speed through 
Belgium, using the Belgian railways to transport the army which 
was to envelop and crush the alUed flank opposed to it. 

It is true that there was a treaty signed by Prussia, Russia, 
England, France and Austria, which guaranteed the inviolabihty 
of Belgian territory. This was the ^' scrap of paper" contemp- 
tuously referred to by the German Chancellor von Bethmann- 
Hollweg. It was this scrap of paper to which England's signature 



48 Canada's Sons in the World War 

was attached that brought Great Britain so quickly into the 
war. 

Not knowing with certainty where the blow would fall, the 
French had to engage the enemy along the whole front, retire 
when necessary and attack where any weakness showed itself, 
meanwhile holding her reserves for the section of front most imper- 
illed. To make sure that France would not be the aggressor, the 
French army had been everywhere withdrawn to a distance of 
ten kilometers from the German border. The German High Com- 
mand asserted that France intended to invade Germany through 
Belgium, and it was necessary for Germany to forestall this action. 
This was categorically denied by Belgium and France, but it served 
the German purpose as an excuse to violate Belgian neutrality. 

The German army consisted of twenty-five corps. It was 
estimated that her total war strength would amount to seven 
million men, of which four million had served with the colours. 
Under Bismarck, Von Moltke, Gneisenau and Scharnhorst the 
German army system had been developed into a perfect machine, 
its guiding principle being that of a '^Nation in Arms.** Every 
male was liable to service from the age of seventeen. The army 
system was the arbiter of social fashion in Germany and it was 
the greatest ambition of every middle-class family to save enough 
money to allow at least one son to become an officer. For the 
nobihty, particularly the Prussian, it was their one and only pro- 
fession. 

The great and efficient German general staff had for years 
perfected plans to meet every emergency. Her system of espionage 
was supposed to be perfect and her knowledge of every civilized 
country was minute in detail. It was believed by the world at 
large that at the word of the Kaiser, a war machine such as the 
world had never known would be set in motion, — b, wonderful 
piece of mechanism unlimited in power and perfect in operation. 

This belief became a reality when the German armies, clothed 
in then- new grey field uniforms, swept over the German border 
with the object of seizing Paris and destroying the French army 
before Russia could enter the arena. The army which was to pass 
by the River Meuse through Belgium did not count on resistance. 
The German army had offered to pay for damage resulting from 
their passage through Belgium and apparently were astonished 




THE FATE OF A ZEPPELIN RAIDER 

Picked out by searehlights and bombarded by "Archies" the death blow was 
administered by a brave British aviator, who set the raider afire with incendiary 
bullets. 



Kitchener's Army 



51 



that their offer had not been accepted. The Belgian troops, hastily 
mobilized in their various coloured peace uniforms, put up a resist- 
ance which both amazed and angered the German people. 

Since Germany counted on a swift blow that would destroy 
the French army before it could be completely mobiHzed, speed 
meant everything. An uninterrupted path through Belgium 
was worth more than an army to Germany. The delay caused 
by the imexpected Belgian resistance upset the German plans 
and probably saved France. It also destroyed the legend of Ger- 



[alines -e^^ 



/ Nivelife 






".Tf^lCHT"' 






\ I '^ 



®liE?PE 



fROUEN 









RIVES 






-'«^i 



;LUXtMBUR^ ^ r 
u >Ur iifc 






s><^:. 



foru ■ 



^^^ARfS. 



•*• .'I 

____ _ aieno 

ihierr 



^- 



ET2 



tP£RNAr*^V4>HSL0NS 
LWtry 






The Western Battle Area. 

Showing the principal railways, roads, canals and forts from the 

German frontier to the sea. 



many's invincibihty, elaborated and repeated to the world during 
many long years: it proved that sand in the works would destroy 
the smooth operation of any machine. 

On August 7th one German army under Von Kluck reached 
Li^ge and laid siege to that fortress which resisted vaUantly for 
ten days. That delay was sufficient to enable France to fully 
mobiUze her army and for the British Expeditionary Force to 
land in France. Though forts nowadays are not considered to be 
of much use against modem siege guns and high explosives, yet 



52 Canada's Sons in the World War 

the delay caused by investing the Liege fort may have cost Ger- 
many the victory which she craved. 

On August 7th the French with weak forces invaded Alsace- 
Lorraine. Their moderate initial success fired the French with 
great enthusiasm and had considerable political value. The French 
forces, however, were not strong enough for the purpose, and, 
suffering reverses, fell back upon the strongly fortified positions 
on the French frontier. 

The rage of Germany, when England decided upon war, was 
most remarkable. The Kaiser gave instructions to the effect 
that his armies were to exterminate the treacherous English and 
to walk over General French's contemptible httle army. The 
British, true to their spirit of humour, seized upon the word 
'^ contemptible '^ as a spur to recruiting, and the phrase became 
a term of undying appreciation of that glorious army, than which, 
it has been said, no finer has probably ever taken the field since 
the time of Caesar. 

On the eastern frontier the first blov/ was struck on August 
3d, and two days later Russian troops crossed into East Prussia. 
On August 16th the Russian army decisively defeated the Germans 
at Gumbinnen while General Samsonov defeated another German 
army at the Masurian Lakes. The sacred soil of East Prussia 
as far as the Vistula was, for the time, in the hands of the Russians. 

On the GaHcian border the first Austrian army won several 
successes, but the second Austrian army was being menaced by 
two Russian armies coming from the north and the east. In the 
south Serbia was driving the enemy from the borders and with 
the help of Montenegro was advancing into Bosnia. 

Britain's control of the sea during the first two months of 
the war was so complete that it elicited no comment. The average 
man expected a series of swift engagements with enemy warships 
designed to disable the British fleet and obtain more or less control 
of the sea. But nothing happened, — that is, nothing spectacular; 
for the truth is Britain maintained her old supremacy of the seas 
by her swiftness of action and without striking a blow. The Ger- 
man fleet was sealed tightly in her own waters before it could make 
a move. 

Instead of despatching a number of swift cruisers and converted 
merchantmen to scour the high seas and harry our mercantile 



Kitchener's Army 63 

marine, the German admiral played safe. Had the work done by 
the Emden been multiplied a hundredfold we would have lost 
untold ships, our shipping would have been disorganized, freight 
rates would have mounted, and our movement of troops been 
seriously interfered with. But more than all else our fleet would 
have been seriously reduced in strength by the necessity of despatch- 
ing fighting ships to run down these raiders. The German admiral 
fortunately played our game. It would have been possible to send 
out numerous raiders before war was actually declared, but he 
employed what he thought to be a far more efficacious and less 
costly method to destroy our commerce, — the under-water craft. 

On August 28th the first important naval action of the war took 
place off Helgoland. Three submarines, the E6, E7, and E8, were 
sent in close to Helgoland as a decoy and succeeded in drawing 
out of hiding some German destroyers and two cruisers. One 
submarine and two attending cruisers raced towards the open 
sea v/hile other British destroyer flotillas steamed swiftly down 
from the north to cut the Germans off. The battle lasted all morn- 
ing but was finished by the arrival of Admiral Beatty's cruiser 
squadron, when the renmants of the beaten German fleet fled 
homewards. In this Battle of the Bight of Helgoland, the Germans 
lost two new cruisers, the Mainz and the Kolriy aiid one older cruiser, 
the Ariadne, Another cruiser and seven destroyers were seriously 
damaged and one destroyer sunk. The Germans lost 700 men 
in killed and 300 prisoners. Our casualties were 32 killed and not 
a single ship was lost. 

The German admiral was confirmed in his policy of keeping 
his battleships in harbour. 

The British control of the sea thereafter depended not so much 
on the possession of heavy battleships as on the lesser craft. The 
German Grand Fleet was to remain idle in its safe retreat behind 
great mine fields, and in consequence there was to be Httle use 
for the heavy British dreadnoughts. Germany's naval activity 
was devoted chiefly to the use of submarines and mines, while 
the British were compelled to resort to measures to render these 
methods futile. 

By means of disguised trawlers and tramp ships Germany 
succeeded in lajdng mine fields and dropping loose mines in the 
course of our shipS:, shortly after war began. As a consequence 



54 Canada's Sons in the World War 

the North Sea was closed by Great Britain to neutral ships unless 
convoyed, while large numbers of trawlers manned by fishermen 
were employed in mine-sweeping. Two fighting ships only were 
lost during this period through striking mines. 

The German submarines, however, succeeded in sinking the 
Ught cruiser Pathfinder and the old cruisers, the Cressy^ Hague 
and Ahoukir were successfully torpedoed while assisting the first 
vessel struck. Six hundred and eighty men w^ere lost when these 
three cruisers sank, and in consequence orders were issued that 
no fighting ship should stop to assist another that had been 
torpedoed. 

The German cruisers the Emden and Koenigsherg set out as 
commerce raiders and managed to destroy a dozen or so British 
merchantmen before they were rounded up, giving an excellent 
illustration of what swift commerce raiders in large niunbers might 
have accomphshed for The Fatherland. 

GREAT BRITAIN PLANS FOR A LONG WAR 

It is needless to say that the military equipment of Great 
Britain in 1914 was on a modest scale. It had not been the custom 
for generations for her rulers to contemplate being forced to take a 
great part in a war in Europe, consequently her army was organized 
on the basis that it must be sufficient for the needs of a widely scat- 
tered empire and at the same time be able to provide an expedi- 
tionary force of three or four army corps to assist in any large 
contest that might arise in Europe. The nation as a whole was 
as one with their leaders in opposition to any attempt to create 
a great miUtary system and had never supported plans for the 
creation of greater armaments. 

The best answer to those who asserted that Britain had pre- 
pared for a European conflict is that no military preparations 
for such a conflict had been made. A general staff had been 
created a few years before for the first time in EngHsh history. 
Her territorial forces had also been better organized, but no 
machinery had been provided for the expansion of the military 
system to the scale which would be required in a world war. In 
consequence Great Britain was found with her regular army very 
little larger than that which she possessed in 1899 before the out- 
break of the South African war. The special reserve and terri- 



Kitchener's Army 55 

torials, who represented the old militia and volunteers, were actually 
lower in numbers than their predecessors though superior in organ- 
ization and eflficiency. 

The regulars with their reservists who completed the battal- 
ions to war strength and the ^^ Special'' reserve units, which were 
to act as feeders to the first line when the reservists were exhausted 
made up the total of 450,000 men. In addition to this the terri- 
torial force which could be employed on foreign service only if 
the men volunteered for it and which was only partially trained 
came to about 250,000 more. Of the first line troops over 100,000 
were serving in India, Egypt, South Africa and the outlying colonies 
of the East, consequently the regular units at home were able 
to put in the field only three army corps and a cavalry division. 
This was the expeditionary force of 100,000 men on which Britain 
had always counted. 

It was quickly realized in England that from the very nature 
of the war large numbers of men would be necessary and Parliament 
authorized an immediate erJistment of half a milHon men. 

On August 8th recruiting was begun when Lord Kitchener 
arrived in the war office and asked for 100,000 volunteers for three 
years' service or the duration of the war. These were recruited 
in two weeks and the rush continued, as many as 30,000 enHsting 
in one day and 175,000 in the first week of September. 

To fill up the existing regular and territorial battahons vol- 
unteers would be necessary but it would also be necessary to create 
innumerable fresh units. Lord Kitchener adopted the scheme 
of forming from these new units the so-called ''New Army" gen- 
erally known as ''Kitchener's Army." It was composed of battal- 
ions attributed to the old County and District regiments and 
numbered on at the end of the existing regular special reserve 
and territorial battahons. A small and thinly populated county 
might raise perhaps only two or three service battahons while 
a large urban district in some cases furnished as many as fifteen 
or twenty. 

At the beginning of August, 1915, two million volunteers 
had been enlisted for service. 

The organizing of this vast multitude presented almost 
insuperable difficulties. The arsenals of Great Britahi had been 
stored to provide for an army of much less than a million; they 



66 Canada's Sons in the World War 

were called upon to furnish weapons and equipment for two million 
fresh recruits. To supply the tens of thousands of officers necessary- 
seemed almost more hopeless and impossible. The problems of 
equipping, housing and feeding this new army was scarcely less 
onerous and difficult. 

Great Britain set to work with a will; her pride had been 
stirred, and though waste and mistaken economy were general 
enough she somehow managed to provide the necessary equipment, 
arms and officers for this new force. The whole world was swept 
for material and a colossal development of her own manufactures 
took place. Camps composed of huts of timber or iron were erected 
all over Great Britain. PubUc buildings were utiHzed as barracks 
and the old English expedient of billeting of soldiers in private 
households was adopted. 

The problem of providing 60,000 or 70,000 officers was the 
most difficult problem of all. To give a man a commission does 
not make him competent to train or lead a platoon. The problem 
was solved in several ways. Great Britain had a greater proportion 
of retired officers of mihtary age than any other country. The 
regular army had always contained a large number of men of 
independent means, who, after a few years in the service went back 
to civil life. The S9.me was the case with the less completely trained 
but still valuable officers of the special reserve and the territorials. 

With the outbreak of war practically everyone of these retired 
officers or '^ dugouts'' as they were called, placed themselves at 
the disposal of the state. A second valuable source of supply was 
the large number of partly trained young officers furnished by the 
Officers' Training Corps in the universities and pubUc schools. 
Perhaps most important of all in comparison with other nations 
Great Britain possessed the largest percentage of raw material 
from which officers could be made. 

These intelUgent well-educated men from the so-called upper 
and middle classes accustomed to responsibility and to using their 
brains were exceptionally numerous in Great Britain; so numerous 
were they that a number of battaUons of the new army filled with 
volunteers of such a class had had haK of their privates given 
commissions within the year. 

Naturally this system resulted in great variation in efficiency; 
some units were well-officered, others were not. In consequence 



Kitchener's Army 57 

some units were less disciplined and less efficient than others and 
it required far greater time to get them into the condition necessary 
to take the field. 

In general the territorial first line battahons, because of their 
superior training, passed over the Channel first and by spring, 
1915, divisions of the new Kitchener army were taking their place 
at the side of the veterans in France. 

The old regular army had been able to hold its portion of the 
aUied line until its re-enforcements had been improvised, trained 
and brought to the front. 

Credit must be given to France for holding during that period 
nine-tenths of the Franco-British front and thereby enabling 
its ally to exert its maximum effort. So difficult was the situation 
during that period that three divisions of the Indian Contingent 
from India had to be brought to Europe to hold the line because 
every disposable white battalion was already at the front and 
veteran troops only such as the Indians could be employed with 
safety. 

From the moment w^hen the British people first learned of 
German atrocities in Belgiima the war became a people^s war, and 
its successful prosecution depended thereafter on the rank and 
file of the nation. The immediate effect of the war was the proc- 
lamation of an industrial truce; several serious disputes were 
at once settled and the railwaymen who had planned a campaign 
for the autumn put all thought of agitation aside. For some time 
there was real and unruffled national unity. The working classes 
enhsted in large numbers all over the Isles and thousands of skilled 
workers belonging to the indispensable trades passed over to 
Flanders before the industrial nature of the conflict was under- 
stood. 

Numberless organizations sprang up all over Great Britain 
for the purpose of fiui:hering the war in some form or other. V. A. 
D.'s were trained by the Red Cross and St. John's Ambulances. 
Hospitals were equipped and offered to the government by the 
hundreds at home, and scores were equipped to be sent abroad 
through private philanthropy. About 1,050 private houses v/ere 
actually accepted by the war office for hospitals. The Red Cross 
societies aU over the empire organized themselves for work and 
provided vast quantities of hospital supplies and comforts for 



58 Canada's Sons in the World War 

wounded soldiers. Other organizations too numerous even to 
mention sprang up and did admirable service in helping on some 
phase or other of the work in connection with the efficiency of 
the army and navy. 

The Y. M. C. A., the Church Army and the Salvation Army 
established huts, tents and equipment both at home and abroad 
for the purpose of providing centres for men to obtain food and 
entertainment. This work was undoubtedly of the highest value 
in helping to maintain the morale of the men. 

Clubs and canteens sprang up all over the home country to 
minister to soldiers returning on leave from the trenches or on 
holiday from camps. In all of these undertakings women gave 
practically all of their services gratis and tens of thousands of them 
laboured night and day in the task of easing the burden of those 
who were fighting their battles. 



CHAPTER IV 
The Empire Springs, to Arms 

The official declaration of war did not commit Great Britain 
to sending a military force to France, but the French Govern- 
ment counting on mihtary co-operation, as well as the universal 
opinion of England, made such military co-operation inevitable. 

On August 3d the British army was mobiUzed; on August 4th 
war was declared by Great Britain; on August 5th Lord Kitchener 
was appointed Secretary of State for War. On August 6th the 
House of Commons passed a vote of credit for $500,000,000 and 
authorized an increase of the army by haK a million men. 

The railways had been immediately taken over by the Govern- 
ment. The record made in this crisis was an extraordinary one. 
Every ten minutes, for the first three weeks of the war, from every 
part of the country a train arrived at the shipside carrying troops 
and impedimenta. 

The embarkation of the British Expeditionary Force began 
on the night of August 7th and within ten days the whole of the 
100,000 men had landed in France. It was strange to note that 
the British people knew nothing of the despatch of the expedi- 
tionary force until it had arrived in France, though reports of the 
crossing were pubUshed in the American press on August 9th. 
The event was known to the German staff on the same day. For 
the most part cross-channel steamers were employed to carry the 
men, while tramp steamers, collected all over the Islands, were 
used to transport horses, guns and equipment. 

Each British soldier was given a short message from Lord 
Kitchener which summed up the duties of a soldier and estabhshed 
the standard expected of him. It was characteristically British. 
It emphasized the obligations of the individual as a personal repre- 
sentative of Great Britain and therefore appealed to the highest 
that was in him. It was indicative of what Great Britain 
expected her army to live up to, and the high character of its per- 
formance upon the lines suggested was typical of the principle of 

(69) 



60 Canada's Sons in the World War 

the British people, just as the performance of the German army in 
Belgium and elsewhere was representative of a nation which sought 
to propagate its type of Kultur upon an unappreciative world. 

You are ordered abroad as a soldier of the King to help our French 
comrades against the invasion of a common enemy. You have to perform 
a task which will need your corn-age, your energy, your patience. 

Remember that the honour of the British army depends on your 
individual conduct. It will be your duty, not only to set an example of 
discipline and perfect steadiness under fire, but also to maintain the most 
friendly relations with those whom you are^helping in this struggle. The 
operations in which you are engaged will, for the most part, take place in 
a friendly country, and you can do your own country no better service 
than in showing yourself in France and Belgium in the true character of 
a British soldier. 

Be invariably courteous, considerate, and kind. Never do anything 
likely to injiue or destroy property, and always look upon looting as a 
disgraceful act. You are sure to meet with a welcome, and to be trusted; 
your conduct must justify that welcome and that trust. Your duty 
cannot be done unless your health is sound. So keep constantly on your 
guard against any excesses. In this new experience you may find temp- 
tations in wine and women. You must entirely resist both temptations, 
and, while treating all women with perfect courtesy, you should avoid 
any intimacy. 

Do your duty bravely. 

Fear God. 

Honour the King. 

Kitchener, Field Marshal. 

The British regular army of about 100,000 men crossed the 
channel to France without the loss of a single ship or a single 
man. It was a splendid tribute to the completeness of the control 
of the seas already estabhshed by the British navy. This wonderful 
feat of transportation was carried out without a hitch and the dis- 
embarkation and despatch of the British army to the front went 
on with similar smoothness. It was a hundred years since a British 
army had landed in France. No spectators or women were allowed, 
as in past wars, to accompany the expeditionary force from Eng- 
land. The organization to prevent espionage was already working 
well. Great enthusiasm was aroused among the French by the 
fine appearance of the men — ^particularly the Highlanders — and 
by their kindness to v/omen and children. Legends of the days 
when Scotchmen were found in large numbers with the French 
armies were again remembered. 



The Empire Springs to Arms 61 

The British army was placed under the general command of 
General Joffre, the French generaUssimo. It was a fortunate 
thing that neither Sir John French, the chief of the British force, 
nor General Joffre were jealous men, and harmony between the 
armies was evident from the beginning. 

The Comimander-in-Chief of the British army. Sir John 
French, was considered to be the best man on the active Hst, and 
his record had shown exceptional judgment and energy. The 
two infantry corps were under the command of Sir Douglas Haig 
and Sir Horace Smith-Dorrien, while the cavalry division was 
under the command of Major-General AUenby. A third infantry 
army corps was in process of formation in England under Major- 
General Pulteney. 

On Friday, August 21st, the British army of two infantry 
corps and one cavalry division had got into position along the line 
Conde-Mons-Binchy in Belgium which formed the extreme left of 
the aUied front. 

Had the Allies been able to advance well into Belgium before 
the middle of August and join with Belgium^s army in holding the 
Antwerp-Namur line, their position would have been favourable. 
The only Belgian position now available, however, was the hne of 
the Sambre River which itself depended on whether Namur could 
hold out. The information available by General Joffre at the time 
seemed to indicate that only 200,000 Germans were in the Belgian 
area. 

While the Alhes, depending on the resistance of Namur, 
awaited with confidence the German expected frontal attack, 
that fortress fell. 

FKOM REVELRY TO WARFARE 

When war descended upon humanity in 1914 it clouded a 
world which was dancing mad. A negro dance seemed to have 
proved delightful enough to satisfy the artistic sense of the age 
which demanded nothmg finer. The whole world seemed pos- 
sessed with a frenzy to agitate its feet. 

King Edward had died in 1910 and the country had under- 
gone the regulation period of one year of mourning. When it 
was ended England, particularly London, plunged into a whirl 
of pleasure. The rich in latter years had become steadily richer; 



62 Canada's Sons in the World War 

the poor stayed where they were or got poorer. Strikes disorgan- 
ized industry. The strikes were settled by paying higher wages 
and the employers took the extra cost of production from the 
purchasing public by the simple expedient of raising prices. The 
British House of Parliament, with a vast Liberal majority, endeav- 
oured to carry out a series of social reforms, somewhat palliative 
in character, but representing an earnest attempt to alleviate the 
sufferings of the poor. 

A spirit of lawlessness and unrest could be traced to the summer 
of the coronation. The ostentation of the wealthy undoubtedly 
fomented the dissatisfaction of the poor. The new money made 
as the result of the industrial recovery following ten years of 
depression after the South African war, was often spent in riotous 
living. 

There was the great dispute as to the House of Lords; there 
were railway, coal, and mercantile marine strikes. The wrangle 
over Home Rule had resulted in the raising and training of illegal 
volunteer armies in Ireland. A campaign in female suffrage was 
marked by violence to person and destruction of property. It 
seemed as if people had no object in Hfe but pleasure and excite- 
ment. Disregard of law by a notoriously law-abiding people who 
seemed to have become irritable and unstable became a conamon 
thing. SociaUstic ideas were making great headway among the 
workers both of hand and brain. The wasters and nouveau riche 
only accentuated this irritation by their irresponsibility, stupid 
display and waste. Alcohol seemed to gain a greater hold on 
the nation year by year, dragging it to lower levels of suffering 
and vice. 

War with one gigantic sweep brushed aside all those things of 
lesser note that had concerned the people of Great Britain. Never 
had the British nation been so soHd for the war. Both poHtical 
parties were wilHng to trust to their experts and fight to a finish. 
There was no hate of Germany; the British people were indignant 
because of her actions in Belgium and because she had violated all 
the doctrines that they had been taught to beheve. 

Very speedily Britain reaUzed her weaknesses. Her military 
policy which could produce only 160,000 men prepared to take the 
field in a great crisis was wrong in principle! Too late the words 
of Lord Roberts, begging the people to prepare for the inevitable 



The Empire Springs to Arms 63 

war, were realized to be sound. But providentially the politicians 
of Great Britain had always shown statesmanship inrefusing to inter- 
fere with the efficiency of the navy. That had always been rightly 
held to be the first and main line of defence. Behind that screen, 
it was agreed that, with a fair share of luck, it would be possible to 
quickly build up a large volunteer army. So it would have been 
if there had been a great skeleton army with trained officers, but 
this did not exist. However, the British under Lord Kitchener 
with remarkable coolness set to work to make a new army of three 
million. The territorial system, designed for home defence only, 
became a volunteer army for overseas. There was no invasion, so 
that the building up of th^^ vast army was taken quite leisurely. 

The initial grave financial crisis was faced, a moratorium 
estabhshed and other measures taken to restore pubUc confidence 
and safeguard national credit. Outstanding bills of exchange 
amounting to four hundred million pounds were guaranteed, and 
in a few weeks so completely had public confidence been established 
that war loans of three hundred and fifty milUon pounds were 
floated. 

Great Britain went about her task deliberately, too deliber- 
ately many onlookers thought. There was no invading army 
already pouring across her borders as in France and Belgium to 
galvanise the country into action. The attitude of the English- 
man, as it always has been, was commonly expressed in the phrase: 
"I suppose we shall blunder through." He believed that France 
and Russia would hold the German army till the British were ready; 
he had no reaUzation of the terrible actuahties of modern warfare 
or of the desperate nature of the crisis for civiHzation and himself. 
There were not, as in France, hordes of refugees, fleeing from homes 
devastated by shell fire and the torch, to spread throughout the 
land to relatives and friends the stories of German atrocities and 
Hunnish ruthlessness. 

The sight of one shell-shattered village will do more to bring 
home and make clear the nature and meaning of war to one than 
the most elaborate and graphic description of the most vivid 
writer. 

In France the invaders were but a few score miles from Paris 
and it was possible to reach the firing line from the capital in a 
few hours by motor car. In England, a country which had no 



64 Canada's Sons in the World War 

history of real invasion for hundreds of years, there was no tradition 
of ferocious invaders to provide the incentive to stir up a miUtary 
spirit. 

Though Britain's army was small, it had had in various British 
colonies and protectorates more experience in real fighting than 
any of the other nations; it was a real professional army. Men 
joined it because they wanted to. 

There was no compulsion, nor was there any universal mili- 
tary training in England. Consequently, recruiting for the new 
volunteer army was not too rapid because the import of the war 
was grasped only slowly. With no prospect of an armed invasion 
Britain could call on men to enHst only for the honour of the empire 
and her Alhes. It was not reahzed at first, apparently, by the 
press or the people, that the war was Britain's war almost above all 
others. The British Empire was to be doomed because it, more 
than any other nation, had stood in Germany's path and thwarted 
her scheme for w^orld aggrandizement. 

The press censor in those early days when Britain's wonderful 
little army was winning immortal renown allowed nothing of the 
glorious deeds of the army to pass. Even the names of regiments, 
famous to conjure with, were seldom mentioned, and the wonder- 
ful stimulus which would have resulted by the recording of their 
deeds of valor was deliberately abandoned. 

The use of the press as a publicity agent was forgotten. The 
employment of martial music and bands was also abandoned and 
one of the most useful stimulations of recruiting known dehber- 
ately put aside. To be sure, the country from end to end was 
plastered with posters calhng for recruits, but they were naked 
appeals; there was no appeal to the imagination in any of them. 

The national slogan at the time was also pecufiar. ''Business 
as usual" may have some claims under certain conditions, but it 
seemed to a spectator to indicate that the country was quite capable 
of carrying on the war as a side fine. The feefing that business 
was not be disturbed was symptomatic of the moment; four years 
later the whole business of the nation practically was concentrated 
upon the one aim of winning the war. That merely indicated the 
fact that Britain was at last thoroughly wide awake. 

Crowds of aliens, mostly Germans and Austrians, who speedily 
became Dutch, Belgian and Swiss, swarmed over England and did 



The Empire Springs to Arms 65 

the work given up by those who enlisted. The pubHc scandal 
which followed was only quieted by interning a large number of 
the poorer classes, while the really dangerous wealthy and titled 
foreigners went free and continued to mingle in society. 

Great Britain was an excellent example of how a democracy, 
admirably fitted for deliberate action and free open discussion of 
matters pertaining to the social and pofitical welfare of the country, 
might be quite unfitted for rapid, aggressive action in time of 
peril. An autocracy, which could order this or that and knew that 
it would be done, was far better fitted for carrying on a war, because 
military efficiency, divorced from poHtical influences, would be 
made the sole aim. Yet, as we see later, autocracies one by one 
tumbled to pieces, while the democracies, assuming the nature of 
oUgarchies, carried on to the end. 

In spite of all difiiculties, the voluntary system was successful 
to a degree and recruits came forward as fast as they could be 
equipped and armed. In continental countries which had con- 
scription, preparations were all complete for putting then' armies in 
the field. On mobihzation every man knew where to get his uni- 
form, outfit and rifle. In England this was not the case; every- 
thing had to be made. It therefore came about that the men 
who comprehended most and were staunch believers in the AlUes' 
principles were the first to enhst. Recruiters quickly reahzed that 
their success depended upon their abihty to make the situation 
clear. The men joined up rapidly enough when they reahzed that 
the country and the cause needed them. Kitchener set out to raise 
an army of three milHon and two milUon of them were under arms 
by June, 1915. 

The difficulties of Britain were very great. She had not only 
to build up her own army and manufacture the equipment for them 
but she had also to manufacture for her continental AlHes. The 
Belgian army, for example, which had gone to war with every 
kind and colour of uniform, was outfitted with uniforms made in 
England. This is a single example of what Britain was called upon 
to do in larger and larger proportion as the war continued. Natu- 
rally this manufacturing called for the use of miUions of men and 
women, and made it very difficult later on to bring in general con- 
scription, where numerous trades engaged in war manufacturing, 



66 Canada's Sons in the World War 

promised exemption from military service, had renounced their 
labour regulations and opposition to dilution of skilled labour. 

As it was, the country gradually became aroused to the situ- 
ation and as its people began to understand it they perceptibly 
stiffened. Each military reverse on the continent only made them 
the more determined to see the matter through to the end. Osten- 
tatious pleasure and sport disappeared, the sons of the educated 
and the nobiUty were almost the first to don the uniform. Their 
elders stayed at home, began a thousand different charities, became 
special constables or did anything that would be of service to the 
empire. One noted newspaper man I knew spent several nights a 
week as a look-out for Zeppelins on the roof of St. PauPs Cathe- 
dral. Another, a wealthy banker, armed with a powerful tele- 
scope, I saw fishiQg from dawn to dark on the rocks of Devon and 
watching the Channel; while still another, a university professor, 
laboured at the ahen problem. These were examples of what 
tens of thousands of elderly Britishers of wealth, education and 
family were doing to help in the great cause. 

PoHtically the nation was united, the official opposition hav- 
ing joined to support the Government. The threatened civil war 
in Ireland petered out and each of the belligerent factions sent 
a division of troops to the front. England was more solidly united 
in favour of this war than she had been in any other war waged by 
her in a thousand years. 

On September 19, 1914, at Queen's Hall, London, Mr. David 
Lloyd George, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, made a speech to 
a crowded house. In an address which proved to be prophetic, he 
said in part : 

This doctrine of the scrap of paper proclaimed by Berlin, that treaties 
only bind a nation as long as it is to its interest, goes under the root of all 
public law. It is the straight road to barbarism . . . and the whole 
machinery of civilization wlQ break down if this doctrine wins in this 
war. We are fighting against barbarism . . . The German peasant 
has been drilled into a false idea of civilization but it is a bad civilization, 
it is a selfish civilization, it is a material civilization. They cannot com- 
prehend the action of Great Britain at the present moment. They say 
France we can understand, she is out for vengeance, she is out for terri- 
tory, — Alsace and Lorraine. They say they can understand Russia, she 
is fighting for mastery, she wants Galicia; . . . but they cannot under- 
stand a great empire pledging its resources, its very existence, to protect 




A NIGHT ATTACK ON THE WESTERN FRONT 

A small outpost in the front line trenches signalling for a barrage with star pistols 

to head off a German assault. 



The Empire Springs to Arms 69 

a little nation that seeks to defend herself. They think we cannot beat 
them. It will not be easy. It will be a long job, it will be a terrible 
war, but in the end we shall march through terror to triumph. We shall 
need all om* quahties, — every quaUty that Britain and her people possess : 
prudence in counsel, daring in action, tenacity in piu'pose, courage in 
defeat, moderation in victory, in all things faith. 

I envy you yoimg people your opportimity, — ^an opportimity that 
comes only once in many centuries to the children of men. For most 
generations sacrifice comes in drab and weariness of spirit. It comes to 
you today, and it comes today to us all, in the form of the glow and the 
thrill of a great movement for hberty that impels millions throughout 
Europe to the same noble end. It is a great war for the emancipation of 
Europe from the thraldom of a military caste which has thrown its shadows 
upon two generations of men, and is now plimging the world into the midst 
of bloodshed and death. 

The people will gain more by this struggle in all lands than they com- 
prehend at the present moment. It is bringing a new outlook for all 
classes. We can see for the first time the fimdamental things that matter 
in life and that have been obsciu'ed from our vision by the tropical growth 
of prosperity. We have been too comfortable and too indulgent, many 
perhaps too selfish, and the stern hand of fate has scourged us to an ele- 
vation where we can see the great everlasting things that matter for a 
nation, — Honour, Duty, Patriotism and Sacrifice. 

With the mobilization of the British Expeditionary Force 
the United Kingdom set out to organize its full powers of manhood 
and material. The British Empire is a loose kind of an aggregation 
held together by common sympathies and ideals and often quite 
unconscious of its unity. The aims and objects of the various 
colonies are ofttimes as varied as their peoples; therefore it is 
exceedingly difficult to bring about any such defiinite organization 
as imperial federation. Throughout the empire there are many 
dissimilar view-points, often of a most pronounced character, which 
would make common action at most times difficult. Such a dif- 
ference of opinion w^as the decided opposition of British Colimabia 
to allowing the natives of India to emigrate to that province, an 
opposition which was not understood either in India or Great 
Britain because it depended largely on a local labour situation. 

To onlookers before the war it might seem as though the 
empire was fast drifting tow^ards dissolution, a view that was held 
in Germany. It might have seemed to those not of British ancestry 
that Canada was fast becoming Americanized, not knowing how 



70 Canada's Sons in the World War 

deep was the real feeling that separated Canada from her friendly 
neighbour to the south. 

India was commonly supposed to be a powder magazine that 
a spark would blow into a thousand fragments. South Africa 
might be expected to seize the opportunity to throw off the British 
yoke and Ireland was almost in the throes of rebelHon. 

Germany's idea of empire was a perfectly organized machine. 
Great Britain believed that an empire was a Hving thing whose 
several parts were essential to the growth and well-being of the 
whole body. The essence of British success in colonizing is that 
the individual develops an English mind with English ideas of 
tolerance, freedom and justice. The bond which held the British 
Empire together was one not understandable to those outside the 
empire; it was chiefly a spiritual bond. 

The German nation stood for all that was meant by the word 
^'efl&ciency.'' They placed all the stress on efficiency, rather than 
character. The British people can be most efficient, but they hate 
to speak of it. The train from Bristol to London averages fifty- 
eight and a half miles an hour. Nobody ever speaks of it. The 
fastest train in America, from New York to Philadelphia, on the 
Pennsylvania Raikoad, averages forty-six miles an hour; but the 
Pennsylvania Pailroad, in an interesting folder, tells you all about 
it. During the first few months of the war, that is, during the 
time of the greatest congestion and confusion, not one train carrying 
troops or suppHes in Great Britain, on official schedules, was as 
much as ten minutes late on arriving at its destination. 

In England the whole school system and training is concerned 
with character. A boy must have character before intelligence, 
health or education. Each little section of the country has a 
different character and each little group of people possesses its own 
individuality. The English passion is for variety. The person is 
the thing; British achievements are nothing, but British character 
is everything. 

The Englishman has been quite satisfied to pose as the world's 
champion muddler. Carlyle and Wells and almost every other 
English author tells the Enghsh that they are stupid. Though 
they have produced more geniuses who have called them fools 
than any other people in the world, it makes not the slightest dent 
in their actual self-confidence. 



The Empire Springs to Arms 71 

An English paper in 1917 observed, quite coolly and casually, 
in an editorial, that '^Of course brains is not our strong point as a 
nation;'^ and then happily went on to the terms of peace to be 
imposed by a victorious England on a crushed Germany. 

The English wallow openly and frankly in their mistakes, 
stupidity and inefficiency, because their real egotism does not 
He that way. They were convinced that Englishmen could in the 
end beat Germany because they believed that English character 
is tougher and more enduring than German character. The English 
became efficient in order to win the war, but they had no real 
enthusiasm for efficiency. 

The EngHsh as a people cannot take a glorious or romantic 
view of war. They are strongly anti-mihtaristic and averse to 
bloodshed. Yet the German idea that authority must be obeyed 
because it is authority has no hold in England, when political or 
industrial issues come really to the top. For example: The 
Munitions Act said that strikes must not occur. Nevertheless, 
200,000 South Wales coal miners struck, and beat the Government. 

The cartoons of Capt. Bruce Bairnsfather were the most 
popular cartoons published during the war. In the army their 
weekly appearance was awaited with the greatest interest. Not 
one of them in any way glorified war; on the contrary the cartoonist 
took special pleasure in puncturing the glory of war. In the refer- 
ence to the first collections of Bairnsfather cartoons the editor says : 
^'Will it not be a standing reminder of the ingloriousness of war 
and of its preposterous absurdity?" 

The English do not mention the dead. You may live for 
weeks with people who have lost close relatives, and the fact will 
never be mentioned. For such a people there is just one release: 
outright laughter. There must be no plays about the war. If 
there must be plays about war they must be about its humours, and 
so everywhere throughout London during war-time there was 
practically nothing but revues. Cartoons, paragraphs, sketches and 
verses were mostly intended to evoke a grin. 

The French and Americans must have found the English 
suddenly gay and even frivolous; but humour was the one thing 
essential to England and it was their supreme outlet during the 
great trial. During that time their great watchword was 
"Carry on." England echoed minute by minute with the 



72 Canada's Sons in the World War 

phrase. Thousands of Englishmen had to die; they knew they 
must and their women knew they must, and they said their 
deepest when they said ''Carry on/' It said nothing about the 
enemy, it said nothing about England; it spoke for the individual. 
It expressed all the inextinguishable hmnour, the personal control 
of pain and loss, the contemptuous disregard of German claims, and 
reliance on sheer character to find the way to smash the mechanical 
structure which the Germans had created and called an empire. 
The Englishman is piu'ely subjective; he is the supreme individual 
in the midst of a cause which stirred him as he had never before 
been stirred in his whole history. In the midst of all his troubles, 
his failures, his bitterness, his depression, and hopes deferred, 
he looked within and said ''Cany on.'' It was the unconscious 
expression of the British bulldog spirit and it carried the British 
Empire through to victory. 

The following editorial from the Republic of St. Louis, in the 
United States, written in September, 1914, gives an interesting 
picture of the British Empire as seen by an outsider. It is called 
"An Imperial Mystery": 

Whenever Germany and France with their highly centralized and 
logically wrought out governments, have contemplated the fabric known 
as the British Empire they have smiled smiles of disdain. 

If ever there was an instance of ''muddling along" through decades 
and even centuries, taking things for granted, avoiding issues, extempo- 
rizing expedients, and workiag alwaj^-s for the object immediately in view, 
with scant reference to any priaciple of outward consistency, it is supplied 
by the history of the makiag of the British Empire. This is a strange 
gathering together of Crown Colonies, Dominions, Protectorates, a Com- 
monwealth, Dependencies — and India. . . . All gradations of seK-govern- 
ment may be found in the more than ninety units of the British Empire. 

This fearful and wonderful fabric has no central body. There is no 
"Bundesrath" or Imperial Coimcil. No collective action of its units is 
possible. The relation to them of the Mother Country is Hlogical, iU- 
defined. To the foreigner accustomed to the federation of the American 
States or of the units of the German Empire the Government looks plan- 
less and ineffective. 

AU of which is preliminary to the observation that there is not at the 
present moment any more effective institution in the whole world of 
political fabrics than the British Empire. Whatever its machinery lacks 
appears to be supplied by its spirit. The defects of its body are made up 
for by the unity of its soul. 

The fact cannot be gainsaid that England who does not begin to be 



The Empire Springs to Arms 73 

logical as Germany or as sj-stematic as France, in matters of government, 
has nevertheless the knack of making men step out of their own free will 
to die in her defence. She has the gift of keeping ahve, across timibling 
seas, round haK a world, the undjdng bond that imites the heart to home. 
She has shown herself indifferent to the possession of taxing power over 
her colonies — but what matters it? Those colonies willingly tax them- 
selves to send her warships, and their sons seize their rifles in time of strife 
to come to her aid. She has the wisdom to train and guide the swarthy 
children of alien races, and even foes of yesteryear, that they put their 
living bodies between England and England's enemies. She has a fear- 
fully muddled theorj'- of government, but her practice of government lays 
hold on the deepest things in the soul of man. 

As we contemplate this wonder of an empire which is an empire 
of the spirit, an empire whose philosophy of politics is all wrong, but 
for whom the costhest things withia the gift of man are poured out without 
stint, we are moved to wonder whether this is a prophecy of the future. 
Will the states of the coming days make more of the spirit and less of 
the machine? Will they reck less of constitutions and bills and rights 
and fabrics of government and more of the invisible things which touch 
the soul? 

We do not want to seem to degrade a high theme; but EngHsh plum 
pudding holds the key to the myster5\ 

English plimi puddiQg never saw the day when it was worth the 
eating. It is soggy; it is greasy; it is flavorless; it tastes like a roller 
composition, compact of glue and molasses, which every country' printer 
owTis. . . Yet English plum pudding is eaten on Christmas not only 
from Land's End to John o' Groat's House, but in Manitoba, in Khartoum, 
in the sides of the Himalayas, under the orange groves of New Zealand, 
where December is June, and ia the bHstering humidity of the Straits 
Settlements. Why? We cannot tell. But eaten it is. And English hearts, 
from London to Melbourne and back again, answer to the strains of 
"God rest you, merry gentlemen," and English eyes grow dim with happy 
tears. 

The British Empire is imscientific. It is unreasonable. But it is 
mighty, with the greatness of the soul. 

CANADA FIRST TO OFFER HELP 

The response of the empire was astounding, even to the 
empire itself. From every quarter, from every land w^hich flew 
the British flag, there poured to the motherland offers and appeals 
to help. It evoked an emotion such as no event had ever produced 
in the history of the United Kingdom. 

The first of the colonies to offer help was Canada, who, through 
her Minister of Militia, General Hughes, cabled, on August 1st, 



74 Canada's Sons in the World War 

an offer of a division of twenty thousand men. In rapid succession 
the colonies made similar offers which were all accepted in the 
spirit which prompted them. 

AustraHa, in the words of her Premier, Mr. Fisher, was ready 
to support Great Britain with her last man and her last shilling, 
her navy was placed at the disposal of the British Government, 
and she offered a division and a hght-horse brigade. 

New Zealand off'ered 8,000 men. South Africa offered men 
and organized an expedition under General Botha against German 
Southwest Africa. It was a remarkable tribute to the empire 
that many old Boer officers and men travelled to London to enhst 
against the foes of the country of which they themselves had been 
mortal enemies fifteen years before. 

The smaller colonies which could not send troops sent supplies. 
From the Barbadoes, the Falklands, the Windward and Leeward 
Islands came gifts of money. Ce^don sent tea, British Guiana and 
Mauritius sent sugar, South Africa sent com, AustraHa sent butter, 
bacon, condensed milk and beef, Canada sent one million bags of 
flour as well as oats, coal, cheese, potatoes, tinned salmon, and 
horses. India gave huge sums of money, horses, camels, jewels, 
ambulances and men. 

The action of India particularly thrilled the whole empire 
and upset one of the many factors in the German calculations. 
India, with her enormous population of 350,000,000, almost four 
times that of the United States, was supposed to be seething with 
suppressed discontent. Made up of many Indian peoples, who, 
since a century and a half ago, had been one by one brought under 
the sway of the British Empire, there had been at times more or 
less discontent among one or other caste. The British people are 
the greatest nation-builders on the earth, mainly because they rule 
with impartial justice. This fact the Indian peoples , the oldest 
and proudest races on earth, recognized. What freedom from 
constant internecine strife, and fair play, meant to them they fully 
understood. When the time came they were loyal to a man, for 
the EngUshman had treated them Hke equals and not "niggers," 
as the Germans in China had contemptuously called them. 

The Indian army sent two infantry divisions and a cavalry 
brigade to Europe at once. The larger native states offered con- 
tingents of cavalry, infantry, sappers and transport which were 



The Empire Springs to Arms 75 

accepted. A hospital ship, huge sums of money, thousands of 
horses and a multitude of other gifts were offered by the various 
maharajahs of India. 

Nationalist agitations disappeared as if by magic and their 
leaders summoned the country to rally to Britain's aid. Almost 
every chief offered his services, even to fight in the ranks, and 
many of them were allowed to accompany the Indian army. This 
wonderful tribute of India to the empire, and its effect on the 
British people can better be imagined than described. 

The response of the eldest of the colonies was scarcely less 
thrilling. Canada had always avoided anything that might 
entangle her in a European war. A few years before she had refused 
to vote money towards a navy for the protection of her own shores, 
though New Zealand and Austraha had gladly done so. Quebec, 
which held the balance of power in Canada, had strong leanings 
towards Nationalism. Wlien the Conservative Government came 
into power in 1911, the Minister of Militia and Defence, con\'inced 
that a war with Germany was soon to come, entered upon a pohcy 
of reorganization of the miHtia and defences of Canada. This 
policy he forced upon his doubtful colleagues, some of whom were 
convinced that he was almost crazy on the subject ; but the Minister, 
obsessed with the idea of a war w^th Germany, insisted on greater 
and greater appropriations for the building of drill halls, and pro- 
viding other equipment and material necessary for national defence. 



CHAPTER V 
Canada in War Time 

In 1911 the Conservative Government came into office during 
a year of abnormal prosperity. Shortly afterwards a season 
of world-wdde financial stringency and universal trade slack- 
ening appeared, the periodic recurrence of which seems to be an 
unsolved mystery. The new Government established a parcels 
post, improved the mail service between Canada and Great Britain, 
passed certain bills designed to put Canadian commerce on an 
improved legal basis and improved the Canadian militia system to 
a considerable extent. 

The activities of the Government met with much criticis^m 
throughout the country. The Dominion Grange, for example, 
meeting in Toronto in January, 1913, wanted reciprocal free trade 
in natural products between Canada and the United States and 
an increase in the British preference. It was said '^Militarism 
was fostered and kept before the public by shipbuilders, manu- 
facturers of armament, admirals, generals, colonels, etc., who 
strut around in gold lace and feathers and look upon the ordinary 
mortals as if they were made of inferior clay.'^ 

The grain growers of Canada wanted a speedy reduction and 
final aboHtion of a protective tariff. Pacifists hke Dr. Andrews, 
a professor in the University of Saskatchewan, denounced the 
Minister of Militia for spending money on drill halls, the Govern- 
ment for proposing expenditure on dreadnoughts and condemned 
the British navy as an instrument of militarism. 

There were troubles of labour, particularly through the flow 
of emigrants from Central Europe. It is notorious that these 
people, saturated with anarchism, are difficult to assimilate because 
they do not approve of modem principles of democracy such as 
oiKS. The inferior quaUty of emigrants coming to America was 
no longer of the pioneer type but the variety that can be easily 
exploited. Canada and the United States had unbounded faith 
in their powers of assimilation, but one that has not been altogether 

(76) 



Canada in War Time 77 

justified. As a result of this constant inflow of inferior material 
into the national Hfe there is bound to be a steady slackening in 
social progress and a gradual deterioration of popular intelligence 
through dilution by large numbers of backward emigrants. 

Canada is a new country, with both the opportunities for 
getting rich quickly and the temptations and numerous evils 
arising therefrom. One's status in society was largely gauged 
by the amount of money one possessed. Consequently many 
people became indifferent to the rights of others and climbed the 
ladder of success by means often dishonourable. Speculative cun- 
ning as a means of accumulating wealth rapidly was honoured 
just as much as the thoroughgoing honourable methods of our 
ancestors. 

The ignorant foreigner was preyed on by the cupidity of 
business men and his ignorance was made use of by the poHtician 
to match his vote against those of better citizens and exclude the 
latter in the control of local government. In the year ending 
March, 1913, there were 400,000 emigrants to Canada, of these 
150,000 were British, 139,000 Americans and 112,000 Continental 
Europeans. The emigrant blood imported by oiu* captains of 
industry through well-known and well-established channels was 
chiefly drained from the lower strata of Europe, below standard 
physically, intellectually and morally. 

Many observers were puzzled or critical about the backward 
tendency they noted in social morals as indicated by the kind of 
song, dress and dance most popular. The average American 
song was drivel, if not worse, the modes of dress were about as 
indecent as they had been in many centuries, while cabaret shows, 
afternoon dances with turkey trots, tangos and grizzly bears were 
the rage. 

Short-hau'ed women and long-haired men declaimed on prac- 
tical eugenics as the one and only cure for all social ills. 

Strikes became very numerous. Mr. Crowther, the Minister 
of Labour at Winnipeg, said, on July 3, 1913, ''We have a great 
country with boundless resources and we want intelHgent and 
industrious emigrants to come to this country, and we cannot 
have too many of them. It is the large influx of money by immi- 
gration that is causing prosperity." 

During the big mining strike in British Columbia with its 



78 Canada's Sons in the World War 

accompanying riots the Victoria Colonist of August said: '^It is 
very clear that steps will have to be taken to prevent the inter- 
ference of ahen agitators in the industrial affairs of Canada. What 
has happened is practically that the organization known as the 
United Mine Workers of America have declared war against our 
institutions. The possibility of the repetition of such a state of 
things must be prevented, even if very drastic means have to be 
resorted to.'' 

At a laboiu* mass meeting held in Vancouver on August 21st, 
most violent speeches were made, in which one United Mine 
official from the United States declared that any man allowing his 
sons to join the army or navy was a traitor to his country. 

Other labour troubles occurred during the year amongst the 
Fraser River fishermen, and amongst C. N. R. workmen at Lillooet 
in November. 

The financial stringency in Canada was supposed to be due to 
some extent to over-speculation, an evil from which the country 
was suffering. A large proportion of the people had been making 
easy money by selling things, bought not for use, but for speculative 
purposes. 

An EngHsh financier expressed the view that small but ambi- 
tious towns of less than 100,000 population were too much inclined 
to run into debt. In their eagerness to build cities, officials of these 
smaller municipalities, frequently backed up by the citizens, 
became extravagant in local improvements, bond issue following 
bond issue in rapid succession to provide funds for pubfic institu- 
tions and improvements which were not only far in advance of 
their real needs, but were very expensive, luxurious and a great 
burden to the taxpayer. 

These improvements made times good and money plentiful 
while in course of construction; in the depression which inevitably 
followed, serious financial difficulties were encountered by those 
who had to meet the civic obHgations. Sir Max Aitken stated 
quite frankly that Canadian municipahties and provinces had 
been over-borrowing and must wait until the effects had worn 
away. 

Pubfic opinion accepted the situation as one of necessary 
reaction and recuperation. The condition which was at once the 
cause and result of the general situation was that of building 



Canada In War Time 79 

operations. With the money tightness came reduced construction, 
upon which followed unemployment, lessened circulation of money 
and civic depression. One of the most depressing factors of the 
business situation was the inactivity of the larger industries of the 
Dominion. 

The cost of Hving in Canada was steadily mounting before the 
war; one of the reasons declared was that high wages paid in 
towns took farm boys and girls to the city, consequently there 
was reduced production on the farm and the products of the farm 
increased in value. Peter McArthur stated in the press, in October, 
1913, that farmers could no longer hire help at a rate that left it 
possible for them to make farming pay. He also stated that the 
high cost of living was not due to the rise in the price of foodstuffs 
but rather to the demands of fashion, costly houses, home furnish- 
ings, decorations and entertainments. 

In Canada the cost of hving had increased from 1900 to 1911 
by fifty-one per cent. 

A journalist viewing the press from the inside said, '^What is 
the great indictment against the newspaper of today? It is 
insincerity. There are two ways of explaining this insincerity. 
One is to say that the newspaper, run for some owner's individual 
profit, must depend for its success upon its circulation; its accept- 
ance by the masses or, at least, by a large portion of the reading 
public. It leaves the impression that the actual editors and 
reporters are a lot of conscious hars. The actual fact is that we 
are far more degraded than that. ' We are a lot of unconscious hars. 
We do not even care about the truth. All we care about is the 
^ story' — the special side of the story which we think our paper 
wants — when we begin to ^root' for something other than our 
own convictions, our convictions take flight. I killed my con- 
science during my first year of newspaper work." 

Upon declaration of war there was no publicly expressed 
difference of opinion as to Canada's duty and obligation. It was 
acknowledged that her obhgations were those of a young virile 
nation whose leaders were convinced that the war about to be 
fought by Great Britain was for the maintenance of the hberty 
of the world. As the weeks passed the conviction, previously held 
by a few, that British institutions and British ideals hung in the 
balance and would forever perish should the forces of miUtarism 



80 Canada's Sons in the World War 

and autocracy prevail, became general throughout the land. In 
a country like Canada, free from war for more than a century, it 
was natural there should be some who found it hard to realize the 
situation. Peace with many had become almost a rehgion. Organi- 
zations to maintain the peace of the world had been highly popular, 
and speakers like Goldwin Smith, Norman Angell, Carnegie and 
J. A. MacDonald were alwaj^s certain of large audiences and a 
sympathetic hearing. 

Sir WiKred Laurier, the leader of French Canada, had always 
kept free from anything that would necessitate the Dominion 
coming to the assistance of Great Britain in case of war. The 
national sentiment of Quebec was strong and the farming popu- 
lation of Canada was unsympathetic to any expenditure on the 
army or navy. 

The arguments conmaonly advanced by peace propagandists 
like Angell were that we could not possibly have war because the 
banking associations would refuse loans; that it was to the interest 
of commercial men of the world to preserve peace; that the working 
men of the world by strikes would prevent war, and that a group 
of nations could by commercial boycott bring the refractory nation 
to time. Many articles were written on this theme in the press. 
The wave of pacificism seemed to increase steadily up to the very- 
month of the war. 

On the other hand MacPhail of McGiU University, Mavor 
and Hutton of Toronto and many others vigorously preached the 
danger of pacificism in the face of German armament, and advocated 
a strong British navy and adequate mihtary defences. The chief 
exponent of the vigorous school of national defence advocates 
was Colonel Hughes, who, most fortunately, happened to be 
Minister of Militia and Defence at the moment. 

THE OUTBREAK OF WAR IN CANADA 

The regular forces of Canada at the beginning of the war 
consisted of 3,000 men, while the active mihtia consisted of about 
47,000 officers and men. 

An offer of a division was immediately cabled to Great Britain 
and accepted and the call issued for 20,000 men was answered 
with an enthusiasm which had rarely, if ever, been witnessed in any 
British colony. In less than a month 40,000 men had volunteered 



Canada in War Time 81 

and the Militia Department was compelled to refuse further 
recruits. 

Wealthy citizens vied mth each other in offering equipment 
and batteries, while large sums were raised to provide for the 
dependents of those who volunteered. 

PubHc men of Canada offered to help in the way in which they 
were best fitted. The Leader of the Opposition, Sir Wilfred 
Laurier, united with the Premier, Sir Robert Borden, and party 
activity ceased. From the gold-fields of the Yukon and the slopes 
of Hudson's Bay, from the Rockies on the west to the Atlantic 
on the east, from workshop and mine, from farm, office and forest 
Canadians trooped to the colours. Old members of the Royal 
Canadian Regiment, the Strathcona Horse and North West 
Mounted Pohce clamoured for re-enHstment. 

It was not the first time that Canadians had aided the empire. 
In the Crimea, in the Indian Mutiny and in South Africa Canadians 
had fought for the mother-country, but there had been no occasion 
before in which the very existence of the empire had been threat- 
ened; there had been no great principle at stake for which men 
could gladly go forth to fight and die. Consequently when the news 
flashed over the Dominion calling for 20,000 volunteers to fight 
the War Lords of Europe there was a response which was astounding. 

A great wave of patriotism passed over the country leaving 
hundreds of thousands of Canadian men wild to help in the crisis. 
Young men who were free volunteered at once; others with homes 
and business ties made desperate efforts to arrange their affairs 
and join the local battahon. Men of an older age cursed their fate 
and made futile efforts to get oversea in some menial capacity or 
other and were heartsick that military exigencies made it absolutely 
necessary to adhere to mPHary regulations and establishments. 

It was not mihtarism that inspired Canadians, for the militia 
in Canada had been looked upon with a good-natured tolerance as 
a sort of hobby for a few enthusiasts. Comparatively few Cana- 
dians really believed that war w^ould come, yet Sir Robert Borden 
and General Hughes were perfectly certain that war was ine\dtable, 
as were many of the militia officers who had studied the situation 
and knew the German mind. It was 'lerefore a much finer thing 
that led Canada's sons to leave their homes, give up their ease and 
comfort to enter upon a career that meant discomfort, subordination 



82 Canada's Sons in the World War 

of self, suffering and possibly death. They came forward freely 
and without constraint to offer themselves and their lives, if 
necessary, for the defence of the empire. 

They perhaps saw more clearly in perspective than the Britisher 
mat the existence of the empire was at stake, that if Britain fell 
Canada would be the next and that therefore they were fighting 
for their own homes. 

The spirit which mostly dominated the Canadian volunteer, 
though perhaps often not quite understood, and never expressed, 
was the spirit of true patriotism which involved the love of justice, 
liberty and country. 

The words of the Premier of Canada, Sir Robert Borden, 
spoken a Uttle later, expressed this feehng: 

I have listened with the deepest possible appreciation to the words 
which have been spoken of the action of Canada in this war. That action 
was due to no Government, to no statesman or group of statesmen. 
It was due to the spirit of the Canadian people, a spirit which will make 
the cause for which we are contending victorious, and which will pervade 
the dominions to the end. I do not need to teil you of the part that Canada 
has played and the part she proposes to play. But it might not be amiss 
for a moment to aUude to the remarkable circumstance that four great 
overseas dominions, seK-governing dominions of the empire, have 
been actuated by a common impulse at this juncture — Australia, Nev/ 
Zealand, South Africa, Canada! Why have all these great free nations 
sent their men from the remotest corners of the earth to fight side by side 
with you of this island home in this quarrel? Why in Canada do we see 
those who are the descendants of those who fought under Wolfe, and of 
those who fought under Montcahn, standing side by side in the battle- 
line of the empire? Why, coming down to later days, do we see the grand- 
son of a Durham, and the grandson of a Papineau, standing shoulder to 
shoulder beyond the Channel in France or Belgium? When the historian 
of the future comes to analyze the events which made it possible for the 
empire to stand like this, he wiU see that there must have been some 
overmastering impulse contributing to this wonderful result. 

One such impulse is to be found in the love of liberty, the pursuit 
of ideals of democracy, azid the desire and determination to preserve 
the spirit of unity founded on those ideals, which make the whole empire 
united in aim and single in purpose. But there was also, in aU the over- 
seas dominions, the intense conviction that this war was forced upon 
the empire — that we could not with honour stand aside and see trampled 
underfoot the liberties and independence of a weak and unoffending nation 
whose independence we had guaranteed. And, above and beyond all 
that, was the realization of the supreme truth — that the quarrel in which 



Canada in War Time 83 

we are engaged transcends even the destinies of our own empire and 
involves the future of civilization and of the world. 

We must not forget that in this war we are confronting the power of a 
military autocracy more highly organized and more formidable, perhaps 
than was ever any nation before in history. I am sure that the m^ilitary 
strength which has been developed by our chief antagonists, has surprised 
the whole world; and I think that this war ^dll bring to us a very vital 
question as to the future of democratic institutions. We have always 
cherished in these islands, and in the oversea dominions as well, the 
ideal of orderlj^ government coupled with that of individual hberty. 
It remains to be seen, as the war proceeds, whether individual hberty 
within the British Isles and the overseas dominions, is coupled with 
so strong a sense of duty and of ser\dce to the state — whether in peace 
or in war — as to make it possible for us to mthstand the onslaught of so 
formidable a foe. 

For myself I have no doubt as to the issue. 

CANADA UNITED TO UPHOLD THE HONOUR OF THE EMPIRE 

The press clearly expressed the feeling of the vast majority 
of Canadians when it said that when Britain was at war Canada 
was at war, and that the struggle w^as one of autocracy against 
democracy, that British ideals of peace and principles of liberty 
must be preserved even at the cost of all the resources of the 
country. It w^as fully understood that as a branch of the United 
Kingdom our interests w^ere one with theirs and that we must 
co-operate to our fullest extent to carry the war to a successful 
conclusion. It was recognized at last that the Canadian policy, 
due to the action of the pacifist element, had left the country 
poorly prepared to take immediate action, or protect our owti shores 
and shipping. 

The Canadian Government in the days of suspense preceding 
the declaration of war kept fully in touch with the situation in 
Europe by cable. On July 30th the Minister of Ivlilitia appeared at 
Ottawa from his summer home. Immediately rumours of the 
mobilization of an army of 20,000 men began to appear. On 
August 1st the Governor General, the Duke of Connaught, on 
behalf of the country cabled to the Colonial Secretary suggesting 
that a military force be raised for service abroad, and asking for 
suggestions from the naval and military authorities. He gave 
further assurance to the British that in event of war being declared 
the Canadian people would be united in the common resolve to 



84 Canada's Sons in the World War 

make every effort and sacrifice to maintain the honour and integrity 
of the British Empire. 

A despatch of appreciation was received from the British 
Government, and on August 4th a second despatch came suggesting 
that steps to enable prompt action should at once be taken. A 
few hours afterwards war was declared. 

At the same time a message came from King George thanking 
Canada for its support, and was answered by the Governor General 
who said: ^^ Canada stands united from the Pacific to the Atlantic 
in her determination to uphold the honour and traditions of our 
empire." 

On August 6th the Colonial Secretary, Mr. Harcourt, cabled to 
the Governor General at Ottawa saying : ^'His Majesty^s Government 
gratefully accept the offer of your Minister to send expeditionary 
force to this country and would be glad if it could be despatched 
as soon as possible." 

Thereafter events moved rapidly. On August 7th two sub- 
marines were purchased from a Seattle firm and quietly transferred 
to Esquimalt. Wireless and cable messages were strictly censored 
and suspected enemy agents were kept under observation. A 
milhon bags of flour, valued at three miUion dollars, were offered 
to the British Government by the Canadian Government and 
accepted. The size of this gift may be appreciated by the fact 
that a million bags of floiu" required two hundred trains of thirty 
cars each to transport it. 

All kinds of Orders in Council were promulgated covering 
export trade to enemy countries, to prevent the aiding of the 
Central Powers, to control espionage, trading with enemy agents, 
defining the status of enemy aliens who piu-sued their ordinary 
avocations and Hsting of merchandise not to be exported. Pro- 
vision was also made for the financing of Canadians stranded 
abroad during the crisis. 

At the brief opening of the Canadian House for four days, on 
September 18th, under conditions which made all men grave and 
thoughtful, the Premier said, in concluding his speech: 

In the awful dawn of the greatest war the world has ever known, 
in the hour when peril confronts us, such as this empire has not faced for 
one hundred years every vain or unnecessary word seems a discord. As 
to our duty all are agreed we stand shoulder to shoulder with Britain 



Canada in War Time 87 

and the other British dominions in this quarrel and that duty we shall 
not fail to fulfil as the honour of Canada demands; not for love of battle 
not for love of conquest, not for greed of possessions but for the cause 
of honour to maintain solemn pledges to uphold principles of liberty, 
to withstand forces that would convert the world into an armed camp, 
yea in the very name of the peace that we sought at any cost save that 
of dishonour. 

The Prime Minister, Sir Robert Borden, for the first time 
in Canadian history was the leader of a united people, and in a 
crisis without parallel he rose to the occasion. History will pay 
a high tribute to this great statesman who quietly and with infinite 
patience handled all problems with a precision and sureness of 
judgment that made him stand out even in conferences of the great 
statesmen of the empire in later years. 

When Canadians, early in August, awoke to the fact that the 
greatest war in history was beginning they were forced to that 
realization more by financial conditions than anything else, yet 
the immediate response of volunteers was remarkable. On August 
6th, when it was officially announced that a division was to be 
assembled in Quebec, General Hughes stated that he had already 
received offers of five times the munber of volunteers required and 
that 100,000 could be raised if necessary. 

The voluntary offers of many patriotic citizens throughout the 
country indicated how deep-felt was the anxiety to serve in the 
great crisis. At Montreal Mr. A. Hamilton Gault gave $100,000 
towards the expenses of a regiment of men who had already seen 
active service. This regiment was recruited very rapidly, ninety 
per cent of its members being Old Countrymen. 

Mr. John C. Eaton of Toronto offered $100,000 with which to 
equip a battery of machine guns mounted on motor trucks. The 
Honourable Clifford Sifton also offered a battery of guns mounted 
on motor trucks, and many other magnificent offers were made which 
indicated the wonderful spirit of service that had sprung into being 
throughout the country. 

On August eth orders were issued for the enlistment of 21,000 
men, mobilization to take place in Valcartier, a village about sixteen 
miles from Quebec among the blue Laurentian hills. 



CHAPTER VI 
The Retreat from Mons 

The German army entered Brussels on August 20th and 
poured through the city southward. One German army corps 
had gone north to keep ui touch with the Belgian army retreat- 
ing to Antwerp. The main stream, consisting of Von Kluck's 
army, moved south to attack the alHed left at Mons and Tournai. 

The second army under Von Buelow marched towards the cross- 
ings of the Sambre River Hne held by the fifth French army. To 
the left of the French fifth army the British held the line through 
Binchy, Mons and Conde. Behind the British lines General Sordet's 
cavalry corps rested. Sir John French's army in the Mons position 
consisted of the First and Second infantry corps and Allenby's 
cavalry division. On August 21st and 22d when they reached the 
Mons position the men at once began entrenching. The exact 
force of the enemy was unknown but the airmen had seen enough 
of the German advance to make it clear that the attack would 
be in considerable force. The plan of the French staff was to meet 
the enemy's attack on the Charleroi-Mons line and after breaking 
the first attack assume the offensive and advance, pivoting on 
Namur. Such an operation, if successful, would make possible 
the reoccupation of Brussels and a junction of the British left 
with the Belgian army retreating from Antwerp. 

The line held by the British was about twenty-five miles 
in length and the defending force consisted of about 75,000 men 
and 250 guns. This gave Sir John French only about 3,000 men 
to the mile, a number which was sufficient because the men were 
thoroughly trained fighters. It left him no reserves however, and 
as a consequence he was compelled to use his cavalry division 
for that purpose placing the four brigades in rear of the left flank 
with orders to move to the support of any threatened part of the line. 

The Fifth cavalry brigade scouting far to the front on August 
22d came in contact at various points with the enemy's advance 
patrols. In these encounters the British were everywhere success- 

(88) 



The Retreat from Mons 89 

ful in driving in the advanced parties of the German cavaby. 
The presence of large bodies of German infantry was discovered by 
these operations. On Satm'day the 22d while the British cavaby 
was thus engaged Von Buelow attacked the fifth French army, 
and as the day wore on fierce fighting developed around Charleroi. 
The bridges were captured and early on Sunday morning the 
Germans began crossing the Sambre. A surprise attack from the 
right combined to make the frontal attack by Von Buelov/ a success. 
At the same time the fortress of Namur collapsed, and late on 
Saturday the French army along the Sambre had not only Von 
Buelow pressing on the front but two other army corps attacking 
the right flank. Under this pressure the fifth French army gave 
way and began its retirement southwards without, unfortunately, 
informing General French of the situation. Consequently the Brit- 
ish General, under the impression that the alhed army on his right 
was still holding firm, was led into fighting a battle against greatly 
superior numbers in a most dangerous position. On Sunday, August 
23d, Von Kluck brought into action against the British not only 
his own army but the right of Von Buelow' s victorious army. 

It is well to note that farther to the right of the allied line 
the Germans, after driving in the right of the fifth armxy, had 
succeeded in dehvering a successful flank attack against General 
Langley's army. The two flanks exposed by the break in the 
front were attacked and a wedge driven into the allied line. This 
was the decisive factor in compelhng the general retreat. As a 
consequence the British army was left isolated around Mons. 
This fact should be appreciated in following the magnificent perform- 
ance of the British force in fighting a hopeless battle and extri- 
cating itself from the pursuit of overwhelming numbers. 

Sir John French, relying on the information supplied by his 
Allies, awaited Von Kluck's attack with confidence. The attack 
began at noon and in half an hour the artillery was thundering all 
along the front of twenty-five miles. At first the enemy's fire 
was ineffective, but soon aeroplanes flying high over the British 
lines dropped smoke bombs on our artillery positions. The black 
cloud of smoke rising from the places where they fell served to 
locate our positions and almost instantly the enemy shells began 
to explode in the spots thus pointed out. 

Th^ British soldiers, confident in their marksmanship, fired 



90 Canada's Sons in the World War 

deliberately as on targets at Aldershot. The targets were easy, 
for the German attack was pushed without consideration of life 
and with reckless haste. The enemy, to the great surprise of the 
British regulars, advanced in dense masses and was mowed down 
in great numbers, while the German rifle fire was strangely inef- 
fective. The enemy struggled on, however, and as his withered 
ranks fell back other waves came on in desperate efforts to push 
through. Sometimes these massed attacks would almost prove 
successful, when with cheers the British would dash forward with 
the bayonet and the enemy, unable to stand the steel, would be 
forced to seek cover. But the Germans could afford to waste 
life in the effort to wear down the defence and the attacks were 
pushed almost continuously. Around the bridges particularly the 
fighting was most severe; later on when the enemy's overwhelming 
superiority and numbers became apparent all our troops were with- 
drawn to the south side of the river and the bridges blown up. 

In the first stage of the battle the German effort was directed 
mainly against the exposed British right flank. As a consequence 
it was necessary for Sir Douglas Haig to draw in his right and 
slowly fall back. This left Mons the apex of an angle at which 
the front of the First and Second corps met. It also made it possible 
for the Germans to make converging attacks from the front and 
flank. Sir John French therefore directed that Mons, if threatened 
seriously, should be abandoned. 

At this time a telegram arrived from General Joft're informing 
the British commander that the French army was in full retreat 
and that not less than three German army corps were attacking 
the British. It seemed almost certain that the 75,000 British v/ere 
opposed by probably 200,000 Germans. A victorious German 
army was also pushing forward past his right flank in pursuit 
of the French and probably 40,000 more of the enemy were sweeping 
round his left. If a prolonged stand at Mons were attempted 
it was certain that the British army would be enveloped and 
destroyed and accordingly it was decided to retreat, since the posi- 
tion of the British army was no longer tenable. 

The first stages of the retirement began Sunday evening. 
As the transport columns and ambulances streamed backwards 
towards France the country people fled from their homes and the 
marching columns were encumbered by crowds of fugitives. 



The Retreat from Mons 91 

General French's plan in retreat was to check the Germans 
on one side by threats of a counter-attack. Wliile this was in 
progress the other corps was to fall back to a designated position, 
behind which the First corps would retire. When it was well upon 
its way the Second corps would in its turn retreat and form upon 
its left. There is no operation so difficult as a fighting retreat 
in the face of superior numbers. It requires sound, cool judgment 
on the part of the commander and officers and absolute steadiness 
on the part of the men. General French's method was in general 
very successful and the British succeeded in preventing the Germans 
from bringing on a decisive battle. Allenby's cavalry during the 
various retreats successfully protected the endangered flanks 
and prevented any possible enveloping movement. 

On Tuesday, a day of intense heat, the wearied British troops 
marched southward to a new position about the town of Le Gateau, 
east of Cambrai. That night the men were so exhausted that they 
could not proceed farther without resting. Before midnight the 
wearied British troops, resting in bivouac, were attacked by German 
columns which had marched through the woods instead of along 
the burning highroads. "The attack which was pushed vigorously 
was broken at every point and was called off for the time being. 

At dawn orders came again to march but the men of the First 
corps were so utterly exhausted that it was decided they should 
not be placed in the fighting line that day. This plan proved 
impossible, for the Germans had marched four army corps during 
the night to a position opposite the front of Smith-Dorrien's Second 
corps. The attack, supported by some 600 guns, began at dawn 
and Smith-Dorrien found it impossible to retreat as ordered until 
he had beaten off the enemy's attack. Unfortunately no support 
was available because the First corps was utterly played out. Smith- 
Dorrien had no time to entrench the position. For eight hours 
the infantry not only held their ground but frequently counter- 
attacked assisted by gallant charges by Allenby's cavalry and the 
wonderful support of British artillery outmatched by four to one. 

Von Kluck unable to break the British line by frontal attacks 
began a great enveloping movement of our flanks with the result 
that certain German batteries secured positions in which they could 
enfilade the British line. In order to avoid annihilation Su' John 
French ordered retirement and late in the afternoon Smith-Dorrien 



92 Canada's Sons in the World War 

successfully moved what was left of his three divisions. The march 
of the Second corps that night, wearied with continuous fighting, 
is one of the remarkable events of the war. The men though tired 
marched steadily, horses dropped between the traces and men 
sat down exhausted by the roadside; guns overtm'ned in the ditch 
were rendered useless and left. When horses could no longer draw 
the loads the loads were discarded. 

An eye-witness says: ^'I dozed in the saddle to waken with a 
start but still nothing but the creak and rumble of v/agons and 
guns and the tramp, tramp of the men. The overpowering desire 
for sleep, the v/eariness, and ache of every fibre and the thirst 
as I have only thirsted once before and that was in the desert 
near Khartoum. As dawn was breaking over the hills the column 
still creaked and groaned its way more asleep than awake but 
still moving, a wonderful triumph of will over human frailty. The 
men, worn and gaunt, looked as if they had just recovered from 
serious illness." 

The critical day for the British force had been the battle of 
Le Cateau. Smith-Dorrien's dogged resistance on that day not 
only saved the army but broke the vigour of the German pursuit. 
On the day of the battle the First corps had marched southward 
to the valley of the Oise without serious menace from German 
pursuit. On the 27th and the 28th the retreat was continued in 
two columns. The First corps under Haig moved along the fine 
of the Oise towards La Fere, and Smith-Dorrien with the Second 
corps marched further to the west by St. Quentin to Chaulny 
and Noyon. 

For the first time the British had some effective support from 
the French when General Sordet's cavalry corps came into action 
reheving Allenby^s hard-worked cavalry. General D'Amade with 
two French reserve divisions also closed in from the direction of 
Arras and threatened the right flank of the German pursuit; on 
the other flank the First and Third French corps moving forward 
on the right of the fifth army took off some of the pressure of the 
enemy. 

On Friday night, August 28th, the whole of the British Expedi- 
tionary force was assembled along the Oise River from La Fere 
to Noyon weary after six days of fighting and marching but with 
spirit unshaken. For the first time in nearly a week all the men 



The Retreat from Mons 93 

had a good eight hours^ sleep, comfortable meals and the refresh- 
ment of a bath. On Saturday, much to the dehght of all, there were 
no marching orders, the army being given a holiday for rest and 
reorganization. 

It must not be inferred, as newspaper reports led one to believe 
at the time, that the Germans were directing all their strength 
against the British. The French army had been beaten all along 
the line and forced to retreat on the whole front. The French 
army however, was not destroyed and was still retiring until the 
opportunity presented itself of making a stand. It is an elementary 
principle of war that the objective of a^n army in the field is not 
the conquest of territory or cities but the destruction of the main 
fighting force of the enemy. Had such occurred and the alhed 
armies been broken up and forced to surrender Paris and France 
would fall with certainty. 

After forcing a passage across the Aisne the German army to 
the centre was directed upon Rheims and ChMons. Long before 
the enemy's advance had reached this point it was obvious that the 
right of the French position on the heights of Champagne was 
being turned and the retreat of the allied left was renewed. The 
plain fact was that the French centre was being steadily forced 
back by the huge masses which the Germans had accumulated 
against it, which had heavily defeated it at several points and 
was now pushing it towards the upper Marne River. To conform 
to this movement the retreat of the British began afresh towards 
the Marne in the neighbourhood of Meaux. 

On September 3d the British force, after hard fighting in the 
woods of Compeigne and Villers-Cotterets woods, reached the Marne 
River and crossing it blew up the bridges behind them. Two 
days later the British force was concentrated some miles further 
south on a tributary, the Grand Morin, and the long retreat from 
the Belgian front was at an end. 

It was a wonderful achievement. The men had gone straight 
from the train or long marches into action and almost every hour 
of every day since they had been retreating. Daily they came 
into close combat with greatly superior forces of the enemy and it 
would have been small v/onder if the heart of the men had broken 
under the strain. Such conditions are desperately trjdng to 
soldiers' nerves. The men and officers knew nothing of the general 



94 Canada's Sons in the World War 

situation; they had fallen back in complete uncertainty as to 
what was happening and could only suspect that the Germans 
were winning because they were the better army. To have pre- 
served discipline and even retained gaiety and humor was an 
achievement almost more remarkable than a great victory. 

The performance of the French army was not less splendid. 
It had begun with the defeat at Charleroi, Dinant and Danchery. 
The French soldier is not supposed to possess the traditional 
phlegmatic temperament of the British and it was therefore an 
exceedingly trying experience for the French troops and their 
Colonials. 

The retreat of the Allies from the Sambre to the Marne will 
live among the great retreats in history. The British performance 
from a mihtary point of view was the most difficult part of the 
operation. The total losses up to the time of our halt on the Marne 
amounted to 15,142 in the ten days. The comparatively small 
losses, the excellent discipline and morale preserved in Sir John 
Frenches troops were the distinguishing features of the retreat. 
When the time came to turn and strike, his men were as eager 
and confident as they were on the first day of the battle. 

The German war machine had certainly proved its efficiency. 
The invasion of East Prussia by the Russians had been stopped 
and the tide of battle had clearly turned in favour of German 
arms. In the wegt fortress after fortress had fallen, Belgium had 
been overrun, its Capital occupied, its army pent up behind the 
forts of Antwerp. In ten days the alhed armies of France and 
England, which had begun the offensive along the frontier, had 
been driven back one hundred miles to that valley which Napoleon 
had held to be the last defence of Paris. 

A long hst of battles won had been added to the annals of 
Germany. Everjrwhere the alKed army had yielded ground day 
by day, and France had been inundated by the flood of German 
soldiers sweeping over the countryside. It seemed as if the great 
German plan was working out with mathematical precision, France 
would be swiftly crushed, and then the armies, flushed with victory, 
would be transferred to the eastern battlefront to deal with the 
Russians. 

On the 4th September the French Republican Government 
had left Paris for Bordeaux; Paris was being bombed daily by 



The Retreat from Mons 95 

German airmen, and strayed and wounded soldiers appeared on 
the streets. Up to this time the citizens of the French capital had 
been singularly cool and unconcerned, superficially at least. 
When, however, the roar of cannon and the sound of bridges being 
blown up were heard in the suburbs of Paris a considerable exodus 
began of people who dreaded a siege. Many fled to England and 
the steamers that left French ports were so crowded that there 
was not even standing room on the decks. Probably one-third 
of the normal population of the Capital moved out. 

General Gallieni had been appointed Military Governor of 
Paris. The newer fortifications of the city constructed after 1870 
consisted of a second outer circle of forts, redoubts and batteries 
covering a circle of more than seventy-five miles. These defences, 
however, had been neglected. The amount of barbed wire in the 
stores for example, did not suffice to construct an entanglement for 
even one front of the great fortress. The French staff therefore real- 
izing that Paris could not withstand a siege concentrated their 
efforts on making a siege impossible by a counter-stroke against the 
enemy's advance. 

The German staff, on the other hand, was convinced that the 
Allies' forces were already not only beaten but demoralized by 
the ceaseless pressure of the pursuit. So far during the retreat 
there had been no sign of any com^bined counter-attack or even of 
an attempt at a general stand along the line and the Germans 
did not anticipate any danger from Paris. Von Kluck, therefore, 
took the risk of swinging around and pushing his army corps between 
the eastern defences of Paris and the extreme left of the allied 
line. There is little doubt that his general instructions were to 
cut the Allies off from the Capital, not with any view of an imme- 
diate investment, but in order to outflank their left and either 
roll up thek line or force them to continue theii' headlong retreat 
to the south. He had come to regard the British army as virtually 
out of action. 

According to the German theory an army of less than 100,000 
men driven for a week by a quarter of a million Germans must 
have been reduced to a dispirited and panicky mob without spirit 
or semblance of discipline. Acting on this belief Von Kluck marched 
his right wing across the British front hoping to drive a wedge 
between the fifth French army and French's remnants. The Brit- 



96 Canada's Sons in the World War 

ish aviators speedily discovered and reported this nev/ movement 
of Von Kluck's and further east the French airmen had intelhgence 
as to the positions and movements of the other German forces 
on the long line stretching from the lower Mame to the neigh- 
bourhood of Verdun. 

General Joffre decided that the moment had arrived to abandon 
the defensive and attack the invaders. The plan as explained to 
Sir John French was that the sixth French army should move from 
Paris and be thrown against the German right while Sir John 
French with the British should attack in front. At the same time 
the forward movement against the Germans would be continued 
eastwards by the four French armies holding the hne between 
the British right and the barrier fortresses at Verdun. The long 
retreat had finally reached its end, the moment for the Alhes to 
strike back had arrived. The battle of the Marne fought on a front 
of more than one hundred miles began a new phase in the drama 
of war. 

For the Germans the need was an immediate and crushing 
victory. Though the Russian invasions had been stopped the eastern 
frontier was likely to soon require further re-enforcements, v/hile 
the army of the west would never be stronger than it was at the 
moment. It was no longer possible to attempt to envelop the 
French by a sweeping movement around the Paris defences, since 
this would thin out the line to an impossible extent. The obvious 
procedure would be to pierce the allied line, split it in two, and roll 
up each haK. To ensure this desirable end it had been decided 
that Von Kluck would strike at the left of the French fifth army 
disregarding the British while the armies of Saxony, Wurtemburg 
and the Crown Prince should attack the wearied troops of Langley 
and Ruffej^ 

The battle began at dawn on Sunday, September 6th. General 
Joffre on that morning issued the following order to his men, '^At 
the moment when a battle on which the welfare of the country 
depends is about to begin I feel it my duty to remind you that 
it is no longer the time to look behind. We have but one business 
on hand — to attack and repel the enemy. An army which can no 
longer advance will at all costs hold the gTound it has won and 
allow itself to be slain where it stands rather than give way. This 
is no time for faltering and it will not be suffered." 



The Retreat from Mons 97 

To most of the German armies the first day of fighting may- 
have seemed to be one of reasonable success. Von Kluck, however, 
with the sudden appearance of the sixth French army which, as 
if by magic, had been flung out of Paris in taxicabs and motors of 
every description, and with the despised British armies playing 
havoc with his right flank, began to realize his situation. The 
British artillery fire aided by the admirable work of our airmen 
was deadly and whole German batteries were smashed to pieces. 
Von Kluck^s corps was caught in a trap, he was compelled to fall 
back, and on the morning of the 8th his army was in full retreat. 
On the same evening General Foch, the brilliant strategist and 
writer of military classics, who was later to become generalissimo 
of the allied forces, succeeded in driving a wedge between the 
armies of Von Buelow and Von Hansen. 

THE BATTLE OF THE MARNE 

On Wednesday, September 9th, a day of high winds and drench- 
ing rains, the British on their front were victorious and drove Von 
Kluck's army across the Marne, the battle developing into a gigantic 
man-hunt. At the same time D'Esperey drove back the Germans 
and further south two of Von Buelow' s corps were driven through 
the marshes of St. Gond with a loss of many prisoners and forty 
guns, while Foch had driven a wedge between the armies of Von 
Buelow and Von Hansen. The rest of the French line held or 
was improved in position. 

On Thursday, September 10th, the battle of the Marne had 
been won by the Allies and the engagement became a drive. The 
German retreat was superbly managed, it was not a rout. 

By Saturday, September 12th, the Germans had occupied a 
line of positions on the Aisne and Suippes rivers. This line, previ- 
ously prepared by German sappers left behind in case of an emer- 
gency, constitutes one of the strongest natural defences in Europe. 

The battle of the Marne, consisting of a series of separate 
engagements, was an indisputable victory for the Allies, won by 
hard fighting and superior generalship. The Germans failed firstly, 
because Von Kluck had arrogantly exposed his right and secondly, 
because of the heavy defeat inflicted by Foch on the enemy right 
centre. Great credit was due also to Langley and Sarrail who had to 
meet and repel the most violent part of the German offensive. 



98 



Canada's Sons in the World War 



The great German strategy had failed, henceforth the Germans 
were to be on the defensive and forced to accept a war of entangle- 
ments, — a type of warfare they hated. 

With the retirement of the Germans the aUied soldiers, partic- 
ularly the British, reahzed for the first time the horrors of war in 
a ci^dlized country and the ruthlessness of German methods. 
In the retreat from Mons they had fallen back through a friendly 



—I EXTBCnE 

GERMAN tlNE, 
SEPT. 61* 

5l«Ct55IVE RCraEATS 

•••••■• aePT ircf 
6«eae« svt. etr 
■ ■aa« SEPT. isx: 



«CVON Tove?OUN WO f^ 
B«J.S TO l_^OM 7S 
t AON TO NAVU^ 9o 
PffU&TVI'lS.TZ. IgO "V 




Retreat of Geemans apteb First Battle of the Marne 



country not yet devastated by the enemy. As they marched north 
again they entered a coimtryside ravaged and dishonoured. 
Chateaux and farmhouses were burnt, villages smashed beyond 
recognition, farms and gardens laid waste, everywhere a brutal 
and senseless devastation. Tales of outrages on civiHzed popula- 
tion made the British reaHze that they were pitted against no 
ordinary foe, but something which seemed to be the enemy of all 
mankind and of civihzation itself. 



CHAPTER Vn 
First Canadian Contingent Sails for Europe 

The Minister of Militia, General Sir Sam Hughes, was the 
most-talked-of man in Canada in the latter months of 1914, and his 
fame soon spread across the water. His great-grandfather, General 
St. Pierre, had fought beside Napoleon and, with two of his sons, 
had died at Waterloo. The blood of great soldiers stirred in his 
veins and manifested itself when a boy. 

A one time EngKsh master in a Toronto collegiate institute, 
then a county newspaper editor, elected year after year in a riding 
which was largely CathoUc, '^Can't-be-beat Hughes" became the 
accepted dictum of his county. Personally he was enormously 
popular and knew not only the name of every voter but the names 
of the children of every voter in his riding. Moreover he did 
what he promised so that today there are few ridings as well 
looked after as Sir Sam's riding of North Victoria. 

As a keen mihtary man. Colonel Hughes got into many a 
battle and had been known on occasion to resort to his fists to 
obtain a decision. 

As the mihtary critic of the opposition in the House he attacked 
General Hutton, the then supreme mihtary officer in the Dominion. 
It was thought this was the reason Colonel Hughes was not accepted 
for service in South Africa when that war broke out. Nothing 
daunted, with the Premier's leave, he set sail on the South African 
transport in civihan dress. In South Africa he obtained employ- 
ment on transport work, became attached to the staff of General 
Chas. Warren in Bechuanaland and the head of the mounted 
brigade till the end of that war. 

T\Tien the Conservatives came into power in 1911, Sir Robert 
Borden appointed this aggressive soldier Minister of Mihtia. It 
was with some misgivings that the party viewed this appointment. 
Colonel Hughes's past performances, particularly in debate, would 
lead one to expect trouble. The Prime Minister rightly placed a 
high value on his potentiahties. 

(99) 



100 Canada's Sons in the World War 

Once in power, this strong-willed, self-assertive, self-reliant, 
egotistic and aggressive man became a prominent figure. Original 
in ideas he had always been; the new Minister of Militia and 
Defence proved to be original in policy when he got into office. 
As an active military officer he pressed and agitated reforms that 
would make a more efficient militia. His newspaper training and 
his ability to talk brought his ideas constantly before the people. 
As a member of the Federal Cabinet he gave his own ideas form 
and authority. 

In the House he was constantly being attacked, and baiting 
the Minister was a practice not uncommonly attempted, but the 
Minister stood to his guns and returned as good as he received. 

The annual estimates of the MiHtia Department, which were 
increasing greatly from year to year under the new Minister, made 
him the target of many rude gibes. On May 7, 1914, he was 
attacked by F. W. Pardee, who denounced him as ^^ Absolutely 
obsessed with militarism." F. B. Carvell thought the Minister 
had gone '^militia mad." Hugh Guthrie exclaimed: '^The militia 
expenditure in Canada today is entirely out of proportion to our 
needs and our wealth — the time will never come in this country 
when the expenditure the Minister proposes will be justified. 
There is no reason for it, there is no emergency id sight and there 
will be none in our day and generation." H. Lemieux declared the 
country to be going ^^ military mad" under General Hughes's 
influence. G. W. Kyte denounced the ^^extravagance, fuss and 
feathers" of the department. And so it went on session after 
session. 

Notv/ithstanding these attacks a great majority in the House 
of Commons provided the money for a general house-cleaning. 
And so it came to pass that officials passed out and new men (not 
always good ones) came iu during the period of re-organization. 
The ability to invariably select good men; either for action or as 
advisers, was not one of General Hughes's quahties. Many of his 
subsequent troubles grew out of the fact that he had chosen men 
because he liked them, because they were plausible, or because 
they appealed to his egotism. Unfortunately he sometimes 
accepted their advice and got himself, in consequence, into serious 
trouble. 

As has already been said, when war broke out, General Hughes 



First Canadian Contingent Sails for Europe 101 

became the most-talked-of man in Canada. His prophecies had 
been realized and his policies justified. Even his enemies had to 
admit that his judgment had proved correct. For the time he 
was given carte blanche and had the confidence of friend and foe 
alike. 

On July 30th, without hesitation or the calling of Parliament, 
or even a meeting of the Cabinet, General Hughes arrived in Ottawa 
and held an emergency meeting of the Militia Council. He at 
once took charge of the military situation with all the self-possession 
and aggressiveness of his make-up. He organized, worked and 
talked with equal enthusiasm; he seemed to be everywhere, 
travelling huge distances at night; alert, fearless of criticism, 
intensely active, he put into the crowded hours of those early 
war days an energy that seemed ahnost superhuman. His frank 
speeches on the war shocked some, but proved intensely inter- 
esting to all. He said things which evoked censure, he did things 
which evoked general praise. He raised a force of thousands 
of men in the great cause of liberty, but in so doing he rode pell-mell 
over people's accepted ideas and practices with an egotism equalled 
only by that of Emperor Wilhelm. It must have been satisfactory 
to him to have been able to put into action the opinions and policy 
which he had urged upon the country in days of peace. 

Among other reforms he had driven the wet canteen from 
every military camp and banished liquor from every ofiacers' mess 
in Canada, a move which required a deal of firmness and proved 
successful. The list of good deeds standing to his credit was 
large. Frankly it may be said that at the time no other military 
man in Canada engaged in politics could have accomplished so 
much real work in so short a time with the handicaps which 
prevailed. The very qualities of pugnacious self-assertion and 
super-confidence were so startling in the Cabinet that the Mihtia 
Department got not only what it wanted but what it needed. 

The work of organizing and equipping the Canadians for 
overseas service was carried on vigorously by the Minister of 
Militia. Everywhere throughout the country preachers, teachers, 
university professors and other men of influence appealed to the 
vast youth of the country to volunteer. The result was that a 
large number of highly educated men volunteered and became offi- 
cers and non-commissioned officers of the very best type, such 



102 Canada's Sons in the World War 

men being particularly valuable because, like the school boys of 
Eton and other English colleges, they had been trained through 
athletics to take punishment and use their heads. 

Clergymen throughout the coimtry who had been prominent 
in preaching pacificism, faced about and flimg themselves whole- 
heartedly into the cause, working night and day, at recruiting, for 
the Red Cross and other patriotic organizations. 

While Valcartier was in course of construction the battalions 
being recruited throughout the coimtry were mobilized in the 
local camps and began their course of training. 

The scenes which took place when these units finally left for 
the great camp in Quebec were excellent demonstrations of the 
feeling that had been inspired throughout the coimtry. For 
example, when the 48th Highlanders of Toronto left the armouries 
in Toronto for the station, ia a drizzling rain, tens of thousands 
of people lined the streets. By the time the station was reached 
all semblance of order had gone from the ranks, young .women 
carried the men's rifles, others decorated them with flowers, some 
clung to their arms, and the sidewalks were masses of cheering 
humanity. Friends had come to Toronto from all over the Province 
to see the regiment leave for the front and probably 100,000 
people had gathered to see the battaUon depart. There were no 
tears but much cheerfulness and goodwill in this earnest and 
heartfelt send-ofl. It was typical of what was taking place from 
one end of Canada to the other. 

The site for the concentration camp had been chosen at 
Valcartier, a place nestling amongst the blue Laurentian Hills 
about sixteen miles from Quebec, and convenient to that port of 
embarkation. Within four days 6,000 men had arrived at Val- 
cartier; in another week there were 25,000 men. From centres all 
over Canada, troop trains, each carrying hundreds of embryo 
soldiers, sped towards Valcartier and deposited their burdens on 
the twenty-five miles of sidings that had sprung up as though by 
magic. 

The rapid evolution of that wild and wooded vaUey of the 
Valcartier River as I saw it for the first time on August 12th into 
a model military camp was a great tribute to the engineering skill 
and energy of civilians who had never done the like before. One day 
an army of woodmen was seen felling trees, the next day the stumps 




MAJOR-GENERAL SIR SAM HUGHES 

Canadian Minister of Militia and Defence. 



First Canadian Contingent Sails for Europe 105 

of those trees were torn out and the hollows filled, on the third day 
long rows of tents in regular camp formation covered the ground 
and the fourth day they were occupied by civilian soldiers con- 
centrated upon learning the rudiments of the art and science 
of war. 

VALCAKTIER CAMP 

Streets were laid out; miles of water pipes, simk in machine- 
made ditches, were connected for taps and shower baths; a 
system of electric Hghtingwas installed; three miles of rifle butts 
were completed and in two weeks the camp was practically finished. 
It was the finest camp that the first Canadian division was ever 
destined to see. The building of Valcartier was typical of the 
driving power, vision and genius of the Minister of Militia, General 
Hughes. 

Of the 33,000 men assembled at Valcartier the great majority 
were civilians without any previous training in warfare. About 
7,000 Canadians had taken part in South Africa fifteen years before 
and some of these, together with a few ex-regulars, who had seen 
active service, were formed into the Princess Patricia's Light 
Infantry. Otherwise, with the exception of the 3,000 regulars that 
formed the standing army in Canada, the men and most of the 
officers were amateurs. 

The camp was under the command of Colonel Victor Williams. 
No liquor was allowed in the camp, and there was very little 
difficulty with the men. 

Many who had never served in the militia clamoured for 
commissions, and the Minister of MiHtia had a good deal of difficult 
work in the selection of his officers. Notwithstanding, the troops 
worked hard day by day, and it was astonishing how quickly they 
learned the rudiments of the game and presented at least a smart 
appearance when drilling or in manoeuvres. 

It was generally thought that if a man could shoot and had 
a few weeks' training, he was ready to take his place in the front 
line. It was not realized that an army composed of such badly 
trained men would be Httle better than a mob, because they would 
not possess the first essential — discipline. 

It was a feat that Canadian people could be proud of, that 
in the great crisis they were able to gather together this force so 



106 Canada's Sons in the World War 

quickly. It was also a matter of congratulation that without 
delay great industries were turned over to the manufacture of 
all necessary army equipment. Factories all over the country 
immediately began turning out vast quantities of khaki cloth, 
uniforms, boots, ammunition, harness, wagons and the thousand and 
one a;rticles necessary for an army. 

Before the end of September, 1914, the Canadian Expeditionary 
Force had been roughly hewn into shape, battalions had been 
regrouped and remodelled, officers retransferred and in many cases 
weeded out, intensive training carried on and all the necessary 
equipment assembled. 

Tow^ards the end of September orders came to miove, and, 
one by one, the various battaHons and units comprising the con- 
tingent left for Quebec by road and by train. 

Quebec City was bustling with life and activity. The city 
was full of friends who had come to bid their soldiers farewell. 
Through the crooked streets the tramp of Canadian battalions 
and the rumbling of batteries and guns was heard as they made 
their way to the ships on the riverside. The slumbers of a hundred 
years' peace had been once more broken; the empire was again 
threatened and Canada was at war. 

At night from the Chateau Frontenac filled with gay soldiers 
and smiling relatives we could see the moving lights of the St. 
Lawrence River far below; the flashes of a powerful searchlight 
swept the v/ater, lighting up the opposite shores and playing upon 
the craft anchored or moored to the wharves. It was a reminder 
of the possibility that Quebec might be attacked from the sea 
and was the first intimation that there was any possibility of danger 
in Canada. 

One by one, as the great liners were loaded with troops and 
equipment, they slipped away from the Quebec wharves and quietly 
passed down the gTeat St. Lawrence to the open sea. 

Much to the surprise of everybody they found themselves 
gathering in Gaspe harbour m Quebec, and then only was it learned 
that sealed orders had been given to rendezvous there. 

Riding in that peaceful harbor were four small gunboats 
and the thirty-three transports which were to carry the contingent 
overseas. At three of the clock on October 3, 1914, the small 
cruisers, the Diana, the Eclipse, the TaVoot and Charyhdis put to 



First Canadian Contingent Sails for Europe 107 

sea, the Talbot acting as rearguard while the transports formed 
three Hnes following the other three cruisers. The speed, set by the 
slowest craft, the Monmouth, was ten knots an hour and each 
ship was separated from the one in front by four cable-lengths. 
In case the convoy was scattered by fog, storm or other cause, a 
rendezvous was arranged for each day. 

THE FLEET LEAVING GASP:^ BASIN 

Slowly Gasp^ was left behind; the shores of Quebec, with their 
white cottages, their fishing boats and the churches with their 
gilded spires, receded, and the Canadian armada passed on into 
the Atlantic. 

On each transport as it sailed away from Quebec was read 
a message from Field Marshal, H. R. H. the Duke of Connaught: 

On the eve of your departure from Canada I wish to congratulate 
you on having the privilege of taking part, with the other forces of the 
Crown, in fighting for the honour of the King and Empire. You have 
nobly responded to the call of duty, and Canada will know how to 
appreciate the patriotic spirit that animates you. I have complete con- 
fidence that you will do your duty, and that Canada vv^ill have every 
reason to be proud of you. You leave these shores with the laiowledge 
that all Canadian hearts beat for you, and that our prayers and best 
wishes will ever attend you. May God bless you and bring you back 
victorious. 

It was the greatest fleet of transports that had ever been 
gathered together in the history of the world. The fleet consisted 
of thirty-two vessels carrying 33,000 men, 7,000 horses and all the 
motors, wagons and equipment necessary to place one complete 
infantry division and a cavalry brigade in the field and supply the 
necessary reserves. At night the convoy steamed along like a fleet of 
phantom ships, all the windows and portholes carefully screened so 
that not a single ray of light was visible to reveal the location of the 
vessels. 

Off Newfoundland the three lines of ships ploughing along 
about a mile and a half apart picked up the H. M. S. Glory, which 
took up her position about ten miles to the right. There also the 
Newfoundland contingent, in the ship Florizel, joined the convoy. 

On the 10th the Princess Royal, one of the super-dread- 
noughts with a speed of thirty-four knots, and carrying eight 



108 Canada's Sons in the World War 

133^ -inch guns, took up her position on the left, and the next day 
another dreadnought, H. M. S. Majestic, quietly took her place 
ahead of the convoy. 

The weather was remarkably fine and on the 14th October 
England was sighted near Land^s End. 

Nothing had been seen of any of the German pirates and 
it was a wonderful tribute to the power of the British navy that 
the fleet had crossed the ocean without hindrance. 

The approach to Plymouth was wonderfully pleasant to the 
men who had been two weeks on board ship endeavouring to fill 
in the time by drill, athletic contests and games. The trees were in 
full fohage, shades of brown and olive-green predominating, making 
a most restful change from the monotony of the sea. 

THE FLEET ENTERING PLYMOUTH HARBOUR 

Destroyers and torpedo-boats speeded around us in large 
numbers and escorted the vessels, while, as the breakwater was 
approached, a large number of paddle-wheel tugs came out and 
piloted the vessels safely into perhaps the most noted harbour in 
the world. It was from this port that Drake, Hawkins and Cook 
left on their forays and expeditions which brought England such 
notoriety and gave her such a reputation. 

All along the banks dense crowds of people poured forth 
and cheered the Canadian transports, while the training ships were 
manned with sailors and cadets. All the warships under construc- 
tion, the training ships, the docks and other points of vantage 
were thronged with crowds of cheering people, civihans, soldiers 
and sailors. As the vessels were slowly piloted up the Channel, the 
welcome increased in intensity until it seemed as if everybody 
had gone mad. 

It was a remarkable and never-to-be-forgotten reception. 
This extraordinary ovation by the sober Enghsh people meant 
more than a welcome to the Canadians from overseas. Back of 
the demonstration was the conviction that blood had proved thicker 
than water, that the apparently flimsy ties that bound the colony 
to the empire were bonds of steel. It was a proof that the German 
conviction that the British Colonies would fall away and the 
British Empire disintegrate upon the outbreak of a great war had 
proved false. 



First Canadian Contingent Sails for Europe 109 

Incidentally it was a great demonstration that the much 
vaunted German navy had been swept from the seas and rendered 
impotent by the might of Britain's fleet. 

That night the vessels were brilliantly illuminated, bands 
played, many danced and all were happy to be thus far on their 
journey to the real adventure. 

To the Dominion Government on October 16th, Winston 
Churchill, as First Lord of the Admiralty, sent the following 
despatch: 

Canada sends her aid at a timely moment. The conflict moves 
forward to its terrible climax and fiercer struggles lie before us than any 
which have yet been fought. 

To General Alderson, in charge of the disembarkation at 
Plymouth, came a telegram from Field Marshal Lord Kitchener: 

Will you please convey my cordial greetings to the splendid con- 
tingent from Canada which has just reached these shores to -take ' their 
share in the cause of the Mother Country. I am confident that they 
will play their part with gallantry, and show by their soldier-like bearing 
that they worthily represent the great Dominion from which they come. 
They may always be sure that I will do my best to forward their interests. 

On the arrival of the fleet at Plymouth, the following messages 
were received: 

Fulham Palace: "All England welcomes with pride and 
gratitude Canadians' help," wrote the Bishop of London. 

Eastbourne: ''I rejoice with every Briton at the coming of 
such stout comrades." Conan Doyle. 

"Liverpool citizens congratulate the Canadians on the splendid 
contingent, and gratefully thank them for the substantial help 
given." Lord Mayor, Liverpool. 

The press in England recognized the profound significance of 
the Canadians' arrival in its imperial aspects. 

"They are the first of the empire forces to reach England," 
the Morning Post said. "They will soon be of very great value in 
the fighting line, . . But they are also of great value to the 
empire because they are the symbol of its unity and potential 
strength." 

The Times declared this to be the first answer given in Europe 
to the Germans' egregious delusion that the Dominions would 



no Canada's Sons in the World War 

not rally to England in this war. The troops from Canada and 
other Dominions were as fine material as any soldier in the world 
could wish to lead. ''They come of the right breed/' it said. 
''If they didn't they would not have flocked of their own free will 
to the flag as they have done and as they are still doing with una- 
bated ardor. . . We welcome their assistance with gratitude 
and pride. We welcome it for the addition it brings to our nimibers 
in the field, and for the exceptionally fine quahty of troops it gives 
us, . . but far more for the incalculable moral support which 
it brings us in the great struggle for principles that conflict and 
camiot be reconciled." 

The Daily News said their mere presence there was inspiration 
and assurance in itself that however long it might last there could 
be but one end to this struggle. 

The Western Morning News of Plymouth editorially voiced 
England's first welcome thus: 

To Canada belongs the immortal distinction of sending the first 
contingent of Dominion troops to war. Canada has always been foremost 
in great imperial movements, and in advance of the empire's honor. 
Her troops will be first in the field. We in the west had yesterday the 
gratification of seeing these stately ships steam into the harbor whence 
Gilbert set forth to discover Newfoundland, and we will greet them with 
greater warmth than a brother if, and when, Plymouth is officially allowed 
to receive them. 

Canada gives us the flower of her manhood. . . They have crossed 
the ocean to fight for the empire, and if need be to die for the empire. 
As the vanguard of what promises to be a considerable army from our 
daughter state, which will grow in volume as the v/ar progresses, the 
Canadian troops bear witness to the solidarity of the British people 
within the dominions of the King and bring proud answer to the arrant 
Germans who fancied that the British Empire was tumbling to pieces. 
Britain has received from Canada another sample of the "contemptible 
little army." These men, sons of men of Canada, who by their strong 
arms and alert brains have bmlt up a sister state which promises to be 
the most highly developed a.nd most prosperous country in the world, 
are hardy and soldierly individuals, who by nature and training are well 
equipped for the fray into which they are eager to plunge. The Canadian 
contingent will in battle prove themselves worthy of the traditions of 
their race and the Dominion. May the Maple Leaf distinguish itself in 
many battles. 



First Canadian Contingent Sails for Europe HI 

On October 27th Le Temps of Paris referred to the arrival in 
England of the Canadian troops as follows: 

Today what a remarkable development in history. The Indian 
troops are in France, the Canadians are coming. They will come under 
the British flag, and that will not cause any bitterness amongst us. For 
they come to defend France as well as England. The blood of English- 
Canadians will flow for France; French-Canadians T\ill shed blood for 
England. And among those who fall, none will know whether he dies 
for the Motherland of yesterday or that of today, for the two former 
rivals are closely united to protect the Hberty of the world. There is, 
perhaps, no better lesson, no brighter chapter in the history of civihzed 
peoples than this final reconcihation after ancient wars. It was prepared 
by the equal and parallel development of two liberal ci\Tlizations. 

When the first Canadian soldiers reached England they were 
so new that men and ofiicers only recognized the fact that they 
belonged to the same battalion b}^ the numbers on their shoulder 
straps. The Canadian army was as cosmopolitan as Canada itself 
for it was composed of elements springing from many nations, yet 
in the fiLrst Canadian contingent about one-half were British 
born and between one-third and one-haK were Canadian born of 
British parentage, with probably less than five per cent of French- 
Canadians, Indians, and those of foreign extraction. Later the 
proportion of Canadian-bom volunteers became greater. 



CHAPTER VIII 
Achievements of Russia and Japan 

On August 25th when the British forces in France were 
strugghng out of the trap, the Russians had advanced far into 
East Prussia. For strategical reasons it was necessary for the 
Germans to reconquer the country and, besides, it was the home of 
the beloved junkers of the Emperor, who considered the invasion 
of this Province a personal insult. 

General Von Hindenburg, then retired, had made the defence 
of East Prussia his sole hobby; he had haunted the wilderness and 
marshes on foot and in motor car, had investigated the marshes and 
shallow lakes and had got to know the country like a book. He 
had even experimented with driving heavy guns through certain 
of the shallow lakes which had hard gravel bottoms, so that, should 
the opportunity arise, his detailed knowledge of the country would 
prove most valuable. 

At one time a business syndicate devised a reclamation scheme 
which would draia these lakes and swamps and convert them into 
rich agricultm^al districts. Von Htudenburg appealed to the 
Emperor, claiming that this eastern mlderness was worth to 
Germany many army corps and a dozen fortresses. His argument 
prevailed and the scheme was not gone on with. 

At the outbreak of war Von Hindenburg, a man of rugged 
strength of frame and character, was appointed to the East Prussian 
command. His army consisted at the time of probably 150,000 
men. Behind him he had an admirable system of strategic railways 
which enabled him to briug up reserves with a speed impossible to 
the Russians. 

General Rennenkampf advanced along the railway with the 
army of the Niemen towards Koenigsberg. His force was danger- 
ously divided; General Samsonov had advanced on a wide front 
and pressed through the western lake region to seize the crossings 
of the Vistula. His force of 200,000 men outnumbered Von Hin- 
denburg's but he was compelled to move on a broad front through 

(112) 



Achievements of Russia and Japan 113 

the swampy region and his columns were temporarily divided from 
each other. The Russian Intelligence Department proved to be 
very defective and information obtained from spies and aviators 
was quite misleading. 

On August 26th Samsonov found himself confronted with the 
main masses of Von Hindenburg's army. Hindenburg's position 
had been taken with unerring skill, his front line was barred by 
lakes and swamps and he had formed a line of improvised fortifi- 
cations. Splendid railway communications behind his front enabled 
him to re-enforce any wing at pleasure. 

The Russians attacked for several days with but little result 
and all their attempts to break the German line failed. 

Hindenburg, hurrying tens of thousands of men northeast, 
threw them against the Russian flank and Samsonov was driven 
back into an almost roadless country, for the Germans had captured 
his main highways. 

Trapped in the treacherous swamps and wide muddy lakes 
the Russian guns and horses sunk in the bogs while whole regiments 
were driven into the lakes and drowned in the water or bottomless 
mud. Samsonov's army had been five corps strong at the beginning 
of the fight; one corps only, and a portion of another, succeeded 
in making their way eastward toward the frontier. The Germans 
took nearly 90,000 prisoners and hundreds of guns in this battle of 
Tannenberg, which was a complete and decisive victory. 

Von Hindenburg became the idol of the German people. With 
a smaller force he had outmanoeuvred and enveloped a larger and 
his hobby of a lifetime had been vindicated. 

The effect of Tannenberg had an immense influence on the 
war, Germany had anticipated great successes on the western 
front but had little faith that much would be done in the east. 
On the very day that news of the advance of the Germans to the 
gates of Paris arrived in Berlin, the report that Von Hindenburg 
had destroyed a Russian army and cleared East Prussia of the 
invaders arrived. Germany was intoxicated. Von Hindenburg 
was hailed as the greatest soldier of the day. The Emperor raised 
him to the rank of Field Marshal and an inamediate advance on 
Warsaw was demanded by Berlin. 

At this point it may be well to review shortly Russia's strategic 
aims. The original plan of Russia probably involved a defensive 



114 Canada's Sons in the World War 

stand on the lines of the middle Vistula, the Narev and the Niemen. 
She knew where her strength lay and it was obvious wisdom to let 
the enemy wear itself out on her vast distances, poor communications 
and impossible country. Under necessity of easing the position of 
the Allies in the west, General Rennenkampf undertook a campaign 
into East Pi^ssia, with what fortune we have seen. 

In mid September Von Hindenburg was busy in the East 
Prussian campaign, chiefly with Rennenkampf, while the Russian 
left wing was moving swiftly towards Cracow. The Russian aim 
was to lure Von Hindenburg into an impossible conflict on the 
Niemen, while the left wing gave the fleeing Austrians no oppor- 
tunity to rally. 

Von Hindenburg was trapped but saved himself before he 
had suffered a crushing defeat. 

When Von Hindenburg reached the Niemen River the Russian 
artillery hidden on the low eastern shores blew his bridges to 
pieces. After several attempts he found the crossing impossible 
and, his conomunications not allowing of a rapid bringing up of 
reserves, he gave the order to retreat, which was carried out with 
all the old skill of the Field Marshal. 

The Russians played the traditional Russian game and har- 
assed the retreating foe whom the wilderness had betrayed. At 
one time it seemed as if Von Hindenburg' s forces would be cut off. 
There was a fierce rearguard action in the woods for two days in 
which the Germans lost heavily in guns and prisoners, but they 
escaped a crushing defeat by the slenderest margin. 

On the 9th of October a series of engagements, which the 
Russians called the battle of the Augustovo, was over, and the 
Germans had lost 60,000 men in killed, wounded and prisoners. 

The two chief fortresses of Central GaHcia are Jaroslav and 
Przemysl, both on the River San, and both commanding important 
railway routes to the west. Austria counted on Jaroslav making a 
stout resistance, but something went wrong and in three days it 
fell before the Russian attacks. 

THE STRATEGIC CITY OF CRACOW 

Przemysl, with a garrison of 30,000 men, resisted for a much 
longer time. The Grand Duke Nicholas, knowing what a Russian 
winter meant for armies in the field, was eager to strike a great blow 



Achievements of Russia and Japan 115 

before it set in, and his armies swept on towards Cracow. This 
city is strategically the most important point in Eastern Europe. 
It stands on the edge of the Carpathians on the Vistula River, and is 
flanked by hills on the north and south. It was well protected by 
trenches and Hght railways with which to carry artillery, had a 
clear fire zone with a radius of eight miles and was manned with a 
garrison of 100,000 men. 

Cracow is the gateway both to Vienna and Berlin and the key 
to Germany. Forty miles west of Cracow is the Silesian frontier. 
Silesia was the home of the great German territorial magnates, 
contained one of their chief coal and iron fields, and was one of the 
largest manufacturing areas of the German Empire. It yielded 
more than one-quarter of the German coal produced; it had the 
richest ziqc deposits in the world and it had enormous chemical 
and textile factories. Consequently the mere threat of an invasion 
in such a closely settled, highly organized land would be felt acutely, 
for on the products of Silesia, scarcely less than on the products of 
Essen, did the life of her soldiers and civiHans depend. The capture 
of Cracow, therefore, involved an immediate blow at the heart of 
Germany through one of her chief industrial centres. That is why 
so much importance was rightly attached to the Russian movement. 

There were two other objects besides the strategic purpose in 
the Russian invasion of Galicia. Germany had an elaborate sys- 
tem of motor transport and petrol, therefore, was one of her chief 
munitions of war. Her immense stocks were rapidly failing, her 
supply from America and Russia had been cut off and her only 
available source was the GaHcian supply. It is iaterestuig to 
note that the petroleum fields of Austria since 1878 have been largely 
developed under the superintendence of Canadian enguieers. As 
soon as Russia, therefore, could control the Carpathian foothills 
she would enter into possession of the oil wells, and by cuttiag off 
Germany's petrol supply deal her a vital blow. 

Hungary also was the chief source of supply of horses for the 
German army and a successful invasion would cut off another 
source of military supplies. 

The Austrian commands had been recently overhauled and 
all the Austrian forces placed under Von Hindenburg. German 
staff officers were assigned to the Austrian armies. Under German 
supervision the defences at Cracow were strengthened and the 



116 Canada's Sons in the World War 

German right army advanced from the Posen frontier towards the 
northern bank of the Vistula, a movement designed to threaten the 
right of any Russian advance into GaUcia. The German centre 
also moved towards Lodz and altogether it was sufficient to con- 
vince the Grand Duke Nicholas and his staff that the long-awaited 
German offensive in Poland would soon occur in that area. Ger- 
many did not intend to await the enemy on a line of frontier 
entrenchments but to fight him one hundred miles inside his border. 

At this time certain defects in the provision of equipment for 
the Russian army became apparent. It was reaHzed that Russia 
could not hope before Christmas to put the four milUons into the 
field, which had been estimated, in the west; that, in fact, she 
would be fortunate if she could raise two miUions. 

Von Hindenburg, seeing that a stalemate had been reached 
in East Prussia which might continue throughout the winter, and 
reahzing that no nimiber of German successes would affect the 
critical GaHcian position, resolved to stake everything on a blow 
at the enemy's centre. One vulnerable point stood out in Western 
Russia in the city of Warsaw. This city was on the wrong side of 
the Vistula, was the centre of the scanty railway communications 
of Poland, and was the capital of the Russian province. It had a 
population of three-quarters of a milHon of mixed races, the like 
of which could not be found in Europe. If captured, it would prove 
excellent winter quarters from which to push far into the enemy's 
territory in the spring. 

Hindenburg had accumulated at this time at least three- 
quarters of a milHon men, and the Austrian army, with its re-enforce- 
ments must have reached a million. 

The German scheme was a general concentration along the 
middle Vistula, to cut the Kiev railway at Lublin and drive the 
Grand Duke Nicholas along the northern railways towards Petro- 
grad. The Grand Duke, divining his intentions, played for safety 
in the traditional Russian style. 

The Russian generahssimo left nothing to chance and he suc- 
ceeded in completely misleading his adversary. The Germans 
advanced dehberately, making excellent roads as they went, and 
levelling great stretches of forest to make corduroy paths over the 
marshes for transport and artillery. They even altered the gauge 
of the Lodz-Warsaw railway, and, as Von Hindenburg advanced, 



Achievements of Russia and Japan 117 

his supplies were brought up by motor transport from his own 
railheads. 

The Grand Duke was prepared for Hindenburg on a Une of 
entrenchments well to the west of Yv'arsaw. He had no intention of 
allowing the heavy Skoda howitzers to be brought within reach of 
the Capital. ^ 

The fight for Warsaw began on August 18th and failed. By 
the beginning of November the long German front had been broken 
into two pieces which fled southwest and westward. As Von Hin- 
denburg retreated he left a desert behind him; the roads laboriously 
made a few weeks before and the railways were mined. Tele- 
graph wires were cut, posts broken and everything possible de- 
stroyed. Von Hindenburg was maturing a new scheme which 
depended upon a devastated Poland, and all of it except the 
northern portion was left a wilderness. His assault on Warsaw 
had failed decisively and his retreat had been attended with heavy 
losses. 

The lure of Cracow to the Russians was naturally great. The 
Russian general staff were well aware of the dangers of campaigning 
in Poland though they had not divined all that was in Von Hin- 
denburg's mind. They realized that, if Cracow was to be won by 
a Galician advance, an army must move also through Poland on 
its right flank. They hoped to keep Von Hindenbiu-g busy defend- 
ing the Posen frontier while one of their generals dealt with the 
great fortress. The Russian infantry moved forward slowly along 
the damaged Russian roads. The Grand Duke did not discover 
the fact that the German commander had left the Northern Polish 
conamunications in good shape. 

Von Hindenburg had meanwhile been strongly re-enforced, and 
probably now had no less than 800,000 men. His advance against 
the Grand Duke began on a front of forty miles between the Warta 
and the River Vistula. The objective was once again to be Warsaw, 
and was to be secured by a sudden blow at the right of the Russian 
centre, it being argued that with broken railways and ruined roads 
that centre could neither be quickly re-enforced or easily retire. 

The Russian position was a bad one. They were holding a 
line of nearly a thousand miles with forces of not more than two 
milHons and their line presented a dozen points of weakness. It 
is doubtful whether the Russian right centre had more than 200,000 



118 Canada's Sons in the World War 

men. The fights in the second attack upon Warsaw were the last, 
for_a considerable time, of the genuine battles of manoeuvre. 

In a season of heavy mists Von Hindenburg launched his attack 
and the much inferior Russian army slowly gave way. ReaUzing 
that speed was the essence of his plan, Von Hindenburg pressed on 
and, under Von Mackensen, drove the Russians before him until 
their front spHt in two. It was a perilous moment, but at the 
supreme crisis the Russians were re-enforced by troops from Siberia, 
who attacked in the centre, cut off the apex of the German wedge 
and re-estabUshed the Russian line. The result was that in the 
German wedge, consisting of two army corps, there were about 
60,000 Germans remaining in a kind of sack bulging deep into the 
Russian line. Desperate efforts were made by the Russians to 
close in the mouth of the sack and entrap the Germans, but the 
effort failed and Von Mackensen succeeded in broadening the mouth 
of the pocket by pushing back the flanking Russians. 

In the frantic struggle, which lasted from the 24th to the 26th, 
the Germans lost terribly, many companies being reduced to a 
fifth of their strength, and others so broken that they had to leave 
the fighting line. 

The German army, failing in the centre, then attempted an 
enveloping movement which really proved a failure, though large 
numbers of Russian prisoners and many guns fell into the hands 
of the enemy. 

The Russians entrenched themselves on a front against which 
the enemy^s assaults broke in vain. The situation paralleled that 
on the western front and the German force expended itself in vain 
against the entrenched positions of our Allies. The Germans 
attacked with great vigor, for Von Hindenburg desired the Polish 
Capital as a Christmas present for his Emperor, but no valour on 
earth could carry that line. Warsaw was only thirty-five miles off 
and her citizens, within sound of the guns, slept peacefully as if they 
had been a thousand miles away. By Christmas the German attack 
had died away and the winter stalemate on the east had arrived as 
it had six weeks earlier on the western front. 

The Russian achievement had been most remarkable. The 
outbreak of hostilities had found her with her army re-organization 
incomplete and with a serious shortage of equipment. She had to 
bring her men by slender railway communications thousands of 



Achievements of Russia and Japan 119 

miles, and she was ready to strike two weeks before Germany 
anticipated she could. Her invasion of East Prussia did much to 
relieve the strain in the west, but she paid heavily for it. After 
the battle of Tannenberg she made no mistakes. Von Hindenburg 
had been enticed to the Niemen and then driven back to disaster 
at Augustova, while in Gahcia, Lemberg and all eastern Galicia 
were won and in two mighty battles three Austrian armies had been 
heavily beaten. The Russian generals had shown that rarest of 
combinations — omnipresent sense of a great strategic objective and 
a power of patiently biding their time and relinquishing territory 
or cities when prudence demanded it. 

The Grand Duke Nicholas proved that he possessed that 
highest of military gifts, the power of renunciation, the cutting 
of losses and the sacrificing of the less to the more essential. 

japan's effort in the war 

Japan was bound by treaty with Great Britain to come to her 
aid in case of war. On August 4th Japan received a note from Great 
Britain requesting her to safeguard British shipping in eastern 
waters. Since Germany was in occupation of the Chinese Prov- 
ince of Tsing-Tau it was agreed between the two alhed powers 
that Japan should remove this German menace by seizing the 
Chinese Province for the time being, returning it to China after 
the war. 

Accordingly, on August 15th, Japan demanded of Germany that 
she disarm her warships and hand over the Province of Tsing-Tau. 
No reply having been received before the ultimatum expired, 
Japan declared war on Germany. 

On August 27th the Japanese seized some of the small arma- 
ments at the mouth of the Kiao-Chow harbour and swept up the 
surrounding mines. On September 2d they landed troops at the 
base of the peninsula at the end of which Tsing-Tau was situated, 
and cut off that fortress from the mainland. 

On November 6th, after a week of bombardment, the prize 
German colony of the Pacific hoisted the white flag and capitulated, 
much to the chagrin of Germany. Japan in this affair had only 
236 men killed and lost a small thii'd-class cruiser. Thereafter 
Japan's part consisted in patrolling the Pacific, the China Sea 
and Indian Ocean, thereby allowing British warships to be drawn 



120 



Canada^s Sons in the World War 



closer to home waters. Later on she also sent a destroyer squadron 
to assist the Allies in the Mediterranean. In supplying Russia 
with huge quantities of guns, ammunition, stores, hospital and Red 
Cross suppUes, Japan was of incalculable assistance in making it 
possible for the Russian armies to carry on the war against tre- 
mendous odds, particularly in the first year. By this action they 




Germany's Great Port in China, Captured by the Allies 



greatly helped to ease the attacks on the Western Russian front 
and contributed materially to the ultimate fall of the Central 
Powers. 

During the last year of the war Japanese, British and American 
troops co-operated in protecting vast stores of ammunition from 
being seized by the Russian Bolsheviki and helped to preserve 
order in Siberia. 



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CHAPTER IX 
The Canadians on Salisbury Plain 

On the 11th October the Canadians landed at Plymouth. 
A few days later the whole of the 33,000 men were more or less 
settled on SaHsbury Plain. The Canadian force was divided into 
four distinct camps, miles apart. One infantry brigade and the 
headquarters staff were stationed at Bustard camp, another sec- 
tion was camped two miles away at West Down South, a third 
established itseK at West Down North, still further away, and the 
fourth at Pond Farm about five miles from- Bustard. Water 
suppUes and arrangements for administration made these divi- 
sions necessary. 

The Plains of Salisbury are ideal for summer mihtary camps. 
They are rolling prairie-like lands stretching for miles and broken 
only by occasional farmhouses or plantations of trees called spin- 
neys. A thin layer of earth and turf covers the chalk which is 
hundreds of feet in depth; at any point a blow with a pick will 
uncover the white chalk filled with black flints. The hills forming 
the borders of SaHsbury Plains rise sharply from the surface of 
Wiltshire, and Salisbury Plain itseK may be easily distinguished 
miles away by the white water- worn rifts in its hillsides. 

The Canadians were soon settled on this fine camping ground, 
tents were pitched, canteens opened, work begun and the Canadian 
contingent settled down perhaps somewhat unpatiently to the further 
training necessary before they crossed the Channel to Flanders. 

On November 4th, the Kiag and Queen Mary, accompanied 
by a large staff and by F. M. Lord Kitchener, F. M. Lord Roberts, 
Hon. H. C. Perley, Sir Richard McBride and others visited the 
camp. The royal party was met by General Alder son and his 
staff and at Bustard by Colonel Mercer who was in charge of that 
camp. The King inspected the troops with interest and on the 
following day His Majesty issued this address: — 

It gives me great pleasure to take this opportunity of welcoming to 
the Mother Country such a fine contingent of troops from the Dominion 

(123) 



124 Canada's Sons in the World War 

of Canada. Their prompt rally to the empire's call is of inestimable 
value both to the fighting strength of my army and in the evidence which it 
gives of the soUdarity of the empire. The general appearance and physical 
standard of the different miits are highly creditable. I am glad to hear 
of the serious and earnest spirit which pervades all ranks, for it is only by 
careful training and leading on the part of the officers and by efficiency, 
strict discipline and co-oper?vtion on the part of all that the demands of 
modern war can be met. I shall follow with interest the progress and work 
of my Canadians. 

On November 9th 350 Canadians were invited to share in the 
Lord Mayor's historic procession under command of Colonel V. A. S. 
Williams. All branches of the force were represented and the 
Strathcona and Princess Patricia imits were placed around the 
state coach. The crowds lining the streets gave the Canadians an 
enthusiastic reception. 

About the middle of November the rain settled down in 
earnest and did not cease for a month. The constant tramp of 
many feet churned into mud the clay turf overlaying the chalk. 
The rain could not percolate this mixture as it did the unbroken 
sod and in a few^ days the mud was from a few inches to a foot and 
a half deep. 

The smooth English roads w^hich traversed Salisbury Plain, 
lacking depth of road metal, were quickly torn to pieces by the 
heavy traffic of motor lorries and steam traction engines; passing 
cars and lorries sprayed the hedges with this mud emulsion which 
was constantly being formed by the traffic, and the sharp ffints 
which were exposed tore motor tires to pieces like so much broken 
glass. 

Cold high winds, satiu-ated with moistiu-e, accompanied the 
rain, and the Canadians, though accustomed to a severe climate, 
felt the cold in England as they never had before. Tents w^ere 
blown dovrn by hundreds in the gales and the discomforts sometimes 
became almost unbearable. The tents were w^et all the time, the 
clothes and blankets of the men became water-soaked and remained 
so for long periods at a time. There were no stoves or other facilities 
for drjdng purposes. But necessity is the mother of invention and 
the Canadian soldier soon learned that he could keep warm by the 
simple process of wrapping himself in wet blankets and steaming 
as he w^ould in a Turkish bath with himself as the heater. He also 
made the discovery that a pair of wet socks well wrung out and 



The Canadians on Salisbury Plain 125 

placed next his chest at night would be almost dry in the 
morning. 

It became almost impossible to do any training; even route- 
marching was not feasible when it meant another drenching for 
the men and, as a result, the Canadian contingent began a process 
of disintegration. Men began to grouse at the conditions and it 
was only when an epidemic of influenza, speedily developing into 
an epidemic of spinal meningitis occurred that an attempt was made 
to amehorate the astonishingly bad conditions. The morale of the 
men, under these depressing conditions, began to go and large 
numbers of them moved into the little villages round about in an 
endeavour to get dry and have a few hours comfort before being 
arrested and returned to camp. 

It must be remembered that large numbers of the private 
soldiers in the First Canadian Contingent were college graduates 
and wealthy business men in Canada who refused to accept a 
situation which seemed to them both imnecessary, useless and 
dangerous. They knew that there were scores of little villages 
and towns in the vicinity of Salisbury Plain which could well be 
used for billeting purposes, and when no move was made they 
attempted to solve the problem for themselves. Under the con- 
ditions the military authorities were hard put to it to control the 
situation, and day after day motor lorries returned loaded with 
men under arrest for trjdng to obtain a few hours of comfort and 
rest. With the alarm occasioned by the outbreak of meningitis the 
authorities at the war office were at last awakened to the seri- 
ousness of the situation, and the huts at Lark Hill, designed for 
the acconmiodation of Canadian troops, began to go up much faster, 
while the Canadian artillery and many other units were billeted in 
the Httle villages adjoining the Plain. It was difficult to recognize 
in the happy, clean and smiling individuals in billets the grousing, 
dirty, unkempt individuals of the Plains. At no time afterwards 
in France did the Canadians experience anything like the discomfort 
and misery they experienced in midwinterin the south of England. 

On November 20th there were 150 in the Canadian hospital 
at Bulford Manor; three weeks later there were 780. 

With the outbreak of meningitis a laboratory was established 
and through it an endeavour was made to control the epidemic, 
hopeless as the medical authorities knew it to be. Nevertheless 



126 Canada's Sons in the World War 

the epidemic was not an unmixed evil; it educated both combatant 
officers and men as to the necessity of observing the underlying 
principles necessary to prevent the spread of any contagious dis- 
ease. It also showed them that a disease once out of hand could 
play greater havoc than a German attack. 

One infantry brigade which was kept moving about all winter 
in tents, which were pitched every few days on clean sod, did not 
have as much sickness as some of the others which were housed in 
defective huts with sealed windows, open floors and provided with 
stoves. 

Early in January the weather conditions improved, training 
was begun once more and a very rapid improvement became 
apparent in the men. Singing was heard again in the tents at night 
and on route-marches and smiling faces once more appeared every- 
where. The division rapidly rounded into shape and in February 
it quietly disappeared at night and passed over the Channel. 

Lord Roberts in November made his last public appearance 
before the Canadians and addressing the men said in part : 

Three months ago we found ourselves involved in this war, a war 
not of our own seeking, but one which those who have studied Germany's 
literature and Germany's aspirations knew was a war which we should 
inevitably have to deal with sooner or later. The prompt resolve of 
Canada to give us such valuable assistance has touched us deeply. . . . 
we are fighting a nation which looks upon the British Empire as a barrier 
to her development and has long contemplated our overthrow and humil- 
iation. To attain that end she has manufactured a magnificent fighting 
machine and is straining every nerve to gain victory ... it is only by 
the most determined efforts that we can defeat her. 

It was this superb German mihtary organization created by 
years of tireless effort, which Canadian civihans had volunteered 
to fight. Was it any wonder that some of the most able Canadian 
and British leaders doubted whether men and officers, no matter 
how intelligent, could ever equal the inspired barbarians, who even 
at that particular moment were battling with the finest British 
and French regulars in a struggle for the Channel forts? 

BATTLE OF THE AISNE 

During this period in which the Canadians were undergoing 
their training in Valcartier and enduring the horrors of Salisbury 
weather stirring events had been happening in Flanders. The 



The Canadians on Salisbury Plain 127 

German march on Paris had been stopped at the Marne and the 
AlHes assuming the offensive had driven the Germans back to the 
Aisne. 

Here the Germans estabUshed themselves in positions which 
had been prepared by parties of sappers left behind for the pm-pose 
during the great sweep toward Paris. Trenches were dug along 
the crest of the plateau about two miles from the river. The 
height of the plateau, with its projecting spurs commanded not 
only the river and most of the roads but gave wonderful oppor- 
tunities for enfilading fire. 

On September 13th the allied troops were halted before this 
barrier and made a frontal attack which lasted until September 
18th without successfully breaking the German line. It was a 
hard fought battle, in which the British alone sustained 12,980 
casualties, but apparently inflicted about 50,000 casualties on the 
Germans. General Joffre seeing the futihty of sacrificing men in 
a continued frontal attack of this kind, decided to extend his left 
flank to envelop Von Kluck's right flank. This flanking strategy 
was met by the Germans who extended their line to outstrip our 
movement, with the result that there began that great and remark- 
able race for the North Sea, in which each army struggled des- 
perately to outflank the other. 

The reasons for adopting this practice were simple enough. 
It was quickly reahzed that fresh levies could hold trenches against 
the finest troops and it was therefore to the advantage of both 
armies to settle into trench-warfare until they could reconstitute 
their armies afresh and develop new ones. Besides it appeared as 
though, baulked in her attempt to seize Paris and destroy the 
French army, Germany might make a strong effort to render 
England powerless by siege and attacks from the French Channel 
ports. Germany was now hemmed in from Switzerland northward 
and if the one open stretch in Flanders could be closed by a con- 
tinuous line of trenches Germany would be completely bottled up 
on her southern boundaries. 

It was an interesting race. The British army, naturally 
wishing to cut down her long lines of comnaunication and be near 
the Channel ports, was moved from the centre to the northern end 
of the French battle line. The British were just in time to meet 
the German force which had invested Antwerp and many new 



128 Canada's Sons in the World War 

German corps pouring over the Flanders plain towards the Channel 
ports of Calais and Boulogne. The meeting resulted in some of the 
bloodiest fighting of the whole war and once more showed that the 
regular British infantryman was unexcelled as a fighting man and 
was in hand-to-hand combat the equal of several Germans. 

THE RACE FOR THE CHANNEL 

The character of the country upon which the impending 
battles were to be fought is of interest in explaining their nature. 
On the south the Plateau of Albert rises between the River Somme 
and Scarpe. It is a typical Picardy upland of hedgeless roads, 
unfenced fields, lines of formal trees and here and there a stream. 
At its northern limit Arras lies among hills which sweep northwest- 
ward to the Channel, while the plain of the Scheldt River and its 
tributaries which included most of the British line is everywhere of 
intolerable flatness. A few low swells break its monotony such as 
the Mons de Cats, the respectable height of Cassel and the modest 
undulations south of Ypres and La Bassee, but in general it is as 
flat as a tennis lawn, intersected by innumerable sluggish rivers, 
canals and railways. 

Ten miles north of Arras at the town of Lens the coal mining 
region of France begins. There the roads are lined with houses and 
factories and everywhere the headgear of colUeries rise as in Lan- 
cashire. 

Towards Ypres it is a country of market gardens where every 
inch is closely tilled and the land is carefully laid out like a chess- 
board. Towards the sea from Ypres we pass to a low-lying region 
traversed by innumerable canals where the soil seems to be a com- 
promise between land and water. Near the sea is the great barrier 
of sand dunes through'which the waterways of the interior pass by 
a number of sea canals into the shallow waters of the North Sea. 

On this line the Allies, on the 20th October, awaited the attack 
of the enemy as they had done two months before on the Sambre 
and the Meuse. Now, as then, they were outnumbered; now, 
as then, they did not know the enemy^s strength, and again their 
initial strategy had failed. The fall of Antwerp had destroyed the 
hope of holding the line of the Scheldt while the German occupation 
of La Bassee and Lille had spoiled any possibihty of a turning move- 
ment against the German right. The AlUes had two advantages 



The Canadians on Salisbury Plain 129 

over their position of October 20th and that of August 21st; their 
flanks were secure and they had now taken the full measure of the 
enemy. 

The German staff had decided that the Channel ports must 
be won at all cost. They thought that the capture of Calais and Bou- 
logne would gravely alarm public opinion in Britain and interfere 
with the sending of new troops whom they seriously dreaded in 
spite of official scepticism. With the coast in their possession they 
hoped to mount great guns which would command half the width 
of the narrows of the Channel. Under their range of fire they could 
lay mine fields and prepare a base for a future invasion of England. 
Such a measure they argued would complicate the task of the British 
fleet, which would then be compelled to watch two hostile 
bases, and, in such a division of task, the chance might come 
for a naval battle in which Germany would prove numerically 
superior. 

If the allied front could be pierced at La Bassee,or still better 
at Arras, a section of the allied armies would be cut off and penned 
between the enemy and the sea. If successful a large part of the 
opponents' strength would be finally destroyed and a magnificent 
fine of communications to the coast opened up. The third path 
along the shores by Nieuport would not be nearly so valuable; 
success there would simply mean that the allied left would be 
driven back inland, while the line of communications along the 
coast would be a poor one. 

The importance of Arras, La Bassee, Ypres and Nieuport 
must be kept constantly in mind in following the campaign. East 
of Ypres our line bent forward in a bold sahent which obviously 
provided a base for flank attacks upon any force advancing across 
the Yser and through La Bassee. Arras and La Bassee were the 
points where a successful piercing movement would have results of 
the highest strategic value in placing the whole allied left wing in 
deadly jeopardy. Ypres was a salient which if left alone, would 
endanger any German advance, while the Nieuport route would 
give a short though difficult passage to Calais and would turn the 
Allies' flank, though perhaps not seriously. 

It is a sound rule in warfare that strength should not be dis- 
sipated. It is hard, therefore, to explain the course which the 
Germans now actually followed. They attacked almost simulta- 



130 Canada's Sons in the World War 

neously at all four points and for three weeks they desperately per- 
sisted in these attacks. 

Had the movement against Arras succeeded all would have 
been won and the salient at Ypres would have only meant the 
more certain destruction of the British army. Had the attack 
upon La Bassee proved successful the same result would have been 
attained though the success would not have been as marked. Had 
even the worst of the three roads been chosen and the coast route 
cleared the allied flank must have fallen back from Ypres and 
La Bassee. It is therefore hard to understand why all four points 
should have been attacked with equal violence when either of the 
first two would have given possession to the others. Possibly the 
enemy was confident that his numerical superiority was sufficient 
to carry all four positions : the future alone will tell what was in 
the mind of the German staff. 

The fighting on the Yser merged towards the south in the 
fighting at Ypres. The struggle for Ypres was closely connected 
with the battle raging from La Bassee to the Lys and this in turn 
was influenced by the fate of the left wing of the French army 
north of Lens. 

THE FALL OF ANTWERP 

When Brussels was threatened in August the Belgian Court 
had retired inside the Antwerp lines and during the first week of 
September the Belgian army made several gallant sallies from 
behind its defences. 

On September 27th the German siege howitzerte had come 
within range of the southern forts of Antwerp and the bombard- 
ment had begun. The Belgian army which had been fighting for 
nearly two months was now under 100,000 men and it was vastly 
outgunned by the enemy. 

Antwerp could not be invested because of its proximity to the 
sea and the Dutch frontier. Its series of forts, which were only a 
partial protection, would quickly fall under the concentrated attacks 
of heavy howitzers. Germany desired the capture of Antwerp for 
several reasons, the chief of which was that it sheltered a hostile 
army on the German flank and was therefore an intolerable nuisance. 

The forts soon fell before modern siege artillery and the fight 
for Antwerp became something of a field battle. When the popu- 



The Canadians on Salisbury Plain 131 

lation realized that the fall of the city was inevitable there was 
great depression, which was changed to joy when, on October 4th, 
2,000 British Royal marines with several naval guns arrived, fol- 
lowed the next day by 6,000 more. The Belgians believing that 
Britain was sending fm-ther re-enforcements, of which these were 
but the beginning, became greatly elated. On October 6th, how- 
ever, the city at last realized the truth; the British troops could 
not delay the inevitable and there was no hope of further re-en- 
forcements. 

On October 7th the Belgians and alHed legations boarded 
steamers and passed down the Scheldt to the coast of France. 
The great oil tanks were set on fire and a great exodus of refugees 
began. On the morning of October 7th Antwerp contained about 
half a million people; by the evening a quarter of a milHon had gone 
and by the following night the place was as solitary as a desert. 
Many refugees travelled by water ferries, trawlers, pleasure yachts 
and fishing boats; even rafts were used. On land thousands of 
refugees crossed the Scheldt by a bridge of boats, and by ferry and 
fled to Ghent; most of them took the road which ran to the Dutch 
frontier. Over 200,000 exiles were received by the Dutch from 
this quarter and were kindly looked after and sheltered by the 
Dutch people. 

On the evening of October 8th the defence of the city was 
at an end, the garrison had fallen back and most of it had crossed 
over the Scheldt. About 18,000 of the Belgian troops were driven 
into Holland, 1,800 British were missing or became prisoners of 
war and about 1,600 were interned in Holland. 

This operation of despatching British soldiers to Antwerp was 
widely condemned. The numbers were not sufficient; their train- 
ing was rudimentary, and altogether it was considered to be a 
side-show. On the other hand it was claimed to be part of a larger 
scheme to occupy the country between Ostend and Antwerp and 
deflect the new German front. Early in October the Seventh divis- 
ion of the Fourth army corps under Sir Henry Rawlinson had landed 
at Zeebruge and did invaluable work in covering the Belgian retreat. 

The Seventh division finally linked up with the main British 
army in front of Ypres and the Belgians formed part of the new line 
from the coast to the French army which filled in the gap between 
the British and the Belgians. 



132 Canada's Sons in the World War 

THE BATTLE OF THE YSER 

The Belgian army which had been retreating for days now 
consisted of only about 40,000 men, intensely battle-weary. The 
part of the line which they were to defend was the Yser and its 
devious water courses. They were supported by two divisions only 
of French territorials and a brigade of French marines. They were 
attacked by not less than 60,000 men and would probably have 
been pushed back from the Yser and the road opened up to Calais 
when help arrived from an unexpected quarter. 

British monitors in the Channel enfiladed the German right on 
the sand dunes. The German commander brought his heavy guns 
into action against the British sliips, but they were outranged and 
several batteries destroyed. For ten days the strange warfare 
continued, the monitors being re-enforced by old war craft of little 
value. The naval guns swept the coimtry for six miles inland, the 
German right flank was pushed away from the coast and the 
German attack along the Yser was possible only beyond the range 
of the leviathans of the sea. 

The Germans, now re-enforced, struggled desperately for the 
passage, while the Belgians, also re-enforced, steadily opposed them. 
Yard by yard the aUies were driven back among the dykes and 
miry fields, when the Belgians, playing their last card, broke down 
the dykes and inundated the flat meadows. The Yser spread itself 
over the whole country to the depth of several feet and many 
Germans caught in the tide were drowned. The attack had failed 
disastrously, the Emperor who had watched the operations through 
his glasses shut them up and turned away. Thus ended the struggle 
for the shortest route to Calais. 

LA BASSEE 

The Germans with the Crown Prince of Bavaria in command 
held La Bassee. Smith-Dorrien at first attempted an offensive, 
but from the 20th onward his whole energies were devoted to 
maintain his ground and blocking the passage to Bethune and the 
west. 

The attack on La Bassee lasted for ten days and the Second 
corps, constantly under fire, had become exhausted when re-enforce- 
ments arrived in the Lahore division of the Indian corps. The 
struggle continued until the end of the month when the Meerut 



The Canadians on Salisbury Plain 133 

division arrived and took over the line. For the next three weeks 
the Indian corps resisted repeated attacks of the enemy which 
gradually slackened off owing to the concentration against Ypres. 

BATTLE OF ARRAS 

The most dangerous attack of all was that delivered from Octo- 
ber 20th to October 26th at Arras. Von Buelow now in full strength 
and re-enforced by the Prussian Guards, aimed to cut the alUed 
Une in two and win the roads to DouUens and Amiens. In such case, 
not only would the Channel ports fall to him, but he would recover 
the northern road to Paris and achieve the main German objective, 
which was to spHt the allied Hne into two parts and drive them 
asunder by broadening the wedge. 

General Maud'Huy, the commander of the French army, on 
which the blow fell, resisted most stubbornly. All attempts to 
break the French line failed and by the 26th Maud'Huy had begun to 
retaliate. Arras, which had been practically destroyed in the 
struggle, was freed from the German threat by repeated attacks of 
the French, which widened the circle about the city until it was 
finally beyond the reach of the German howitzers. 

By November 1st the attack had failed and some of Von 
Buelow' s best corps, including a division of guards, passed on to the 
north where, in front of Ypres, was being fought the longest, blood- 
iest, and most desperate combat in the history of the British armies. 

FIRST BATTLE OF FPRES 

The Uttle city of Ypres stands on a tiny stream, the Yperlee, 
a tributary of the Yser. No Flemish town could boast a prouder 
history and though only a shell of its former grandeur, its noble 
cloth hall, dating from the twelfth century, testified to its vanished 
mercantile pre-eminence. To the east there were considerable 
patches of forest between Bixschoote and the Lys valley; to the 
south was a series of slight ridges from Messines to Zandevoorde. 
The rest of the country is a dead flat over which the spires of Ypres 
stood out forming a landmark for miles around. In all directions 
from the town radiated the cobbled Flemish roads, the two main 
highways on the east being those to RouUers and to Menin, with an 
important cross road cutting the river five miles from Ypres at 
the village of Gheluveldt, 



134 Canada's Sons in the World War 

On the evening of the 19th the allied offensive had virtually 
ceased. The Allies were aware that at last they had reached the 
main German front. Ever3rwhere in Flanders the German armies 
daily growing in numbers threatened to fall in a tidal wave upon 
the thin and far-stretched aUied Hne. 

In the great battle which began on and lasted till the British 
First and Third corps, the Seventh division, AUenby's cavalry crops 
and Byngs' Third cavalry division were chiefly involved. 

The first battle of Ypres must rank as one of the most re- 
markable contests of the war. It is certainly one of the most 
remarkable in the record of the British army. Between Lille and 
the east, the Germans had not less than one million men; six of 
their fourteen army corps were first Hne troops and even the new 
formations were terrible in assault, more terrible perhaps than 
veteran soldiers, for they were still unwearied and the edge of their 
keenness was unduUed. Those immature German boys and elderly 
men, who often went to pieces before our counter-attacks, came on 
with incredible fury in their early charges. Against that part of 
the force which faced us we had an army of 100,000 which never 
became more than 150,000. 

In the actual salient of Ypres the British had three divisions 
and some cavalry during the worst part of the fighting to meet 
five army corps, three of which were of the first line. For two days 
one division, the Seventh, held a front of eight miles against three 
army corps. 

During the mad struggle, which at times became hopelessly 
mixed, officers gathered and flung into the breach whatever men they 
could find. Subalterns found themselves in command of battahons, 
brigadiers in command of companies or divisions as the fates 
ordered. At one moment a certain brigadier had not less than 
thirteen battalions under him. _^ 

Sir Henry Rawlinson in an order issued to the Seventh divis- 
ion said: 

After the deprivations and tension of being pursued day and night by 
an infinitely stronger force the division had to pass through the worst 
ordeal of all. It was left to the little force of 12,000 to keep the German 
army at bay while the other British corps were being brought up from the 
Aisne. Here they hung on like grim death with almost every man in the 
trenches, holding a line which of necessity was a great deal too long — a 



The Canadians on Salisbury Plain 135 

thin exhausted Hne against which the prime of the German first hne troops 
were hurling themselves with fury. The odds against them were about 
eight to one, and, when once the enemy found the range of a trench, the 
shells dropped into it from one end to the other with terrible effect; yet 
the men stood firm and defended Ypres in such a manner that a German 
officer afterwards described their action as a briUiant feat of arms and said 
that they were under the impression that there had been four British 
army corps against them at this point. When the division was afterwards 
withdrawn from the fighting hne to refit itself it was found that out of 
400 officers who set out from England there were only 44 left and out of 
12,000 men only 2,336. 

Ypres was a soldiers^ battle won by dogged fighting qualities 
of the rank and "file rather than by any great tactical brilliance. 
There was no room or time for ingenious tactics. 

Rarely in the history of war do we find a great army checked 
and bewildered by one a fifth of its size. It was a seemingly hope- 
less stand against a torrential invasion and it is to the eternal honoiu* 
of our men that they did not break and of their leaders that they 
did not despair. 

The cost of Ypres was high, the German casualties were stated 
to have been not less than 250,000 in the three weeks^ battle. The 
allied force from Albert to Nieuport lost well over 100,000 men. 
In the Ypres fighting alone the British lost at least 40,000. The 
total loss to the combatants was not far from the losses of the North 
during the whole of the American Civil War. 

Whole battalions like the First Coldstreams, the Second 
Royal Scots Fusiliers, the Second Wiltshires and the First Cam- 
erons practically disappeared. One divisional general, two bri- 
gadiers, a dozen staff oflScers and the colonels of eighteen battalions 
were lost. Scarcely a house famous in British history but mourned 
a son. 

Ypres was a decisive victory and achieved its purpose. The 
allied line stood secure from the Oise River to the sea. A flanking 
movement and attempts to pierce the allied line had both failed 
and the enemy^s short-lived initiative was over. He was now 
compelled to adopt the form of battle we had determined, with 
the keenness taken from his ardour and with great gaps in his ranks. 
Had we failed he would have won the Channel ports, destroyed the 
allied left and the war would have taken on an entirely new char- 
acter. Ypres was in a special sense a British achievement. Without 



136 Canada's Sons in the World War 

the Belgians on the Yser and the French at Arras the case of course 
would have been hopeless but the most critical task fell to the British 
troops. They opposed the blood and iron of the German onslaught 
with a stronger blood and a finer steel. It would be invidious to 
select special troops for praise; the cavalry, the howitzer brigades, 
the infantry and the artillery together with the yeomanry and 
territorial battalions were all beyond praise. 

It was within the sound of the guns roaring around Ypres that 
Lord Roberts passed away. This greatest of British soldiers on a 
visit to his beloved Indian troops contracted a chill, plemisy fol- 
lowed and on Saturday the 14th the end came. It was peculiarly 
fitting that the master-gunner should die within the sound of his 
guns and that the most adored of British soldiers should have his 
passing amid the army he had loved so well. He had given his 
best to the service of the country and had foregone his well-earned 
rest to preach the lessons of wisdom to ears that refused to listen. 
His career was an inspiration both as a soldier and a man. He 
died, as he had lived, in harness. 

TURKEY IN THE "WAR 

When diplomatic relations between Austria and Serbia were 
broken, Turkey stated that she would remain neutral. Her position 
was that the results of the war might pass beyond the limits of the 
conflict between the warring countries and that her interests might 
be materially affected. She intended to remain neutral but would, 
when possible, take advantage of opportunity by diplomatic means. 
The Turks stated that they would also be forced to safeguard their 
interest and their frontiers and the Turkish mobihzation was at 
once begun. Almost immediately Turkey received word that two 
battleships in course of construction for her in British shipyards had 
been taken over by England, and, in consequence, a certain amount 
of feeling was aroused against England which was carefully nourished 
by her enemies. 

Turkey for a century had been on good terms with France 
and Great Britain; Russia had been her hereditary enemy. She 
had been recently defeated by the Balkan Powers and naturally 
she wished to recover her lost provinces in Europe. 

German intrigue for some years previous to the outbreak of 
war had achieved a gi^eat influence in Turkey. Von Sanders^ a 



The Canadians on Salisbury Plain 137 

German general, was practically in control of the Turkish army 
which had been remodelled on the mechanical German system. 

Upon declaration of war between Germany and Russia, Turkey 
declared the Bosporus and Dardanelles closed to all kinds of 
shipping; at the same time she mined the entrance to these channels. 
These measures effectually prevented the Russian Black Sea fleet 
from getting out while it prevented any possibility of the allied 
naval forces getting in. 

Diu-ing September the Tm-kish Government became increas- 
ingly warHke and an active campaign against England and the 
Allies was maintained in the Turkish press. Great efforts were 
made by Turkey to secure Rumanian and Bulgarian co-operation 
The Allies countered by offering to Bulgaria Thrace and Adrianople; 
to Greece they offered Smyrna and to Rumania the Rumanian 
provinces in Austria. Agreement between these Powers was made 
impossible through jealousy of one another and nothing came of it. 

On 27th October the Turkish and Russian fleets came to blows 
and the Turks claimed the destruction of a number of German 
vessels. War was at once declared against England, Russia and 
France by the Sultan who proclaimed a Holy War. It was hoped 
that by this proclamation three hundred millions of Moslems 
would be induced to rise, and visions of the overthrow of British 
rule in India were clearly visible to the German general staff. 
Nothing came of it however, and the Holy War, as such, was a 
fiasco. 

On November 5th Great Britain declared war against Turkey, 
seized all Turkish vessels in British ports and annexed the island 
of Cyprus. On the 17th December Egypt was formally declared 
a British protectorate since the Khedive had thrown in his lot with 
the Turks. 

Turkey found herself unable to make any move to recover 
her provinces in Thrace since Greece and Bulgaria were neutral. 



CHAPTER X 
The Princess Patricias in Action 

At the end of November, 1914, after the German failure to 
break through the Channel ports, the struggle in the west degener- 
ated into a stalemate. During the winter that followed, the allied 
armies, still outnumbered and outgunned, were organizing their 
forces of men and material and were not yet ready for a general 
attack. France and Britain had not their reserves ready but every 
day brought them closer. The allied inaction was, in one way, a 
form of offensive, because delay meant that the alUed forces must 
increase and Germany^s decrease. By frequent local attacks the 
new armies being gathered together on the western front were being 
trained in actual warfare. Germany was prevented from con- 
centrating in force against any one part of the allied line, and 
troops which might hav^ been sent eastward were detained. 

It was a war of attrition and meant that German losses must 
be considerably greater than ours because of the nature of the 
German fighting methods. 

In January, 1915, the experts calculated that Germany had 
reached her maximum in man power. The Alhes were far from 
their climax; the new British armies, training since September 
1914, were slowly beginning to arrive on the western front, three 
new French armies were being formed and new Russian millions 
were in course of organization. 

It was expected generally that the Germans would strike in 
the west. On the contrary, after withdrawing one corps from 
the western front, and creating five new formations she made a 
violent attack upon the Russian front. 

All along the Franco-British front during these winter and 
early spring months of 1915 the Allies nibbled away at the German 
line, seizing an important bit of trench here, a small but important 
hillock there, flattening out a small sahent in another place and 
in general considerably improving their line. None of the gains 
were large enough to be represented on the ordinary map, but on 

(138). 



S CD j3 




The Princess Patricias in Action 141 

the whole they amounted to a great deal when the tune came for 
the AlHes to make an attack on a large scale. These series of 
attacks which are too numerous and complicated to give in detail 
were singular in the remarkable series of heroic actions by indi- 
viduals. In ^^No Man's Land," at night raiding parties would 
meet one another and struggles of the most fiendish description 
took place in which all forms of warfare were forgotten and men 
fighting without the usual bayonets, knives or clubs, swayed to 
and fro, locked in each other's arms, endeavouring to choke or 
incapacitate the other, like savages in the early dawn of the '' civil- 
ized" world. 

It is interesting to note that no matter whether the Allies or 
the Germans attacked, the losses of the enemy were by far the 
greater. As an example, the battle of Soissons was made a great 
deal of by the enemy, but was of Httle real significance. In it 
the French lost 5,000 men and some guns; the Germans lost twice 
that number and but slightly improved their position. 

Further down in the Champagne the French made an attack 
on a large scale having for their object the threatening of German 
lateral communications as well as detaining a large number of 
troops which might otherwise have been sent to re-enforce Hinden- 
burg in the great struggle on the Niemen. The general advance 
preceded by violent artillery bombardment of the German positions 
began on February 16th, and, though not successful in achieving 
its ostensible object, it drew into action five and a half German 
corps which suffered severely, while Von Einem was compelled to 
call for reserves which would otherwise have gone to the Russian 
front or remained in Flanders. Diu"ing that offensive 10,000 
German dead were buried and 2,000 prisoners taken. 

The War of Attrition from the North Sea to Verdun was suc- 
cessful in reducing the enemy's strength of men and material and 
in preventing him from sending troops to the Russian frontier. 
The French efforts in Alsace and the Woevre, besides having their 
local value, won positions which were very valuable to France 
when the time came for the great advance to be made. 

Only those on the British front during the late winter of 1914- 
15 realized how thinly the line was held and how few reserves 
there were to repel the enemy in case of an attack. Nature, by 
converting the surface of the ground into a sea of mud, made any 



142 Canada's Sons in the World War 

serious attack impossible in the Flanders area. Day after day as 
I traversed the ill paved and muddy roads of Flanders I met troops, 
weary, caked with mud and soaking wet, slithering over the slimy 
cobblestones or splashing through the pools of slime and water 
with their heavy packs and rifles. And as they marched along 
with that pecuHar bent-kneed, inelastic stride so characteristic of 
infantrymen they almost invariably sang some music-hall ditty. 
They sang because they were going back to some heaven in billets 
where they would be clean and dry and happy for a few days before 
their next turn in the trenches. 

TRENCH WARFARE 

After the first battle of Ypres in late November, the British 
people particularly were most optimistic. The English press 
published victorious headlines stating that the allied armies on 
the western front had been victorious. Soldiers returning on leave 
were amazed and exasperated at the calmness of the British people 
before they discovered it to be due to ignorance. The censorship 
which concealed from the British people their wonderful and 
glorious military exploits had robbed the people of that exaltation 
of national spirit which makes it possible to create armies and win 
battles. 

As the stalemate developed, the shallow, hastily-dug trenches 
were developed into elaborate excavations, revetted with wire and 
willow fencing. Along these trenches shelters or dugouts, protected 
by coverings of wooden beams or iron, layers of brick and earth, 
were excavated for the protection of the fighters. Eventually the 
trench system became a series of ramifications of ditches and 
earthworks defended by barbed wire entanglements and other 
devices, such as the local conditions might suggest. 

An advanced trench consisted of a ditch, not more than two 
feet wide, with a recess every few yards so that troops during an 
attack could not be enfiladed. Sometimes these trenches were 
completely separated from one another but this was not the cus- 
tom. The front line trenches were at least five feet deep and were 
usually held Hghtly. The communication trenches passing to the 
rear at some convenient angle also zigzagged in order to prevent 
enfilading fire. 

Behind the front line trenches were reserve trenches and in 



The Princess Patricias in Action 143 

some cases even third line trenches, while away back from the 
front line area stretched other lines of trenches prepared in case of 
a retreat. The communication trenches led to points on the road 
or into some cellar or other position where the men emerging were 
protected from the gaze of the enemy. 

The floors of the trenches were usually covered with wooden 
duck-boards which prevented the men from sinking too deeply 
into the mud. Firing took place from the advanced trenches and 
sniping was usually done through loopholes frequently directed 
by periscopes. 

As one combatant crept towards the other, saps were run 
out and new lateral trenches built off from these. Mining was a 
constant feature on both sides. Tunnels were dug in the groimd 
and carried forward under the enemy lines, quantities of explo- 
sives were placed in these and sections of enemy trenches blown 
up. All day long snipers were busy picking off the unwary, who 
were careless enough to show themselves above ground. 

It wa3 interesting to note that the methods of centuries ago 
came again into being; grenades, and bombs again took their 
place in om* scheme of warfare. 

The first bombs made by the British were rough improvised 
affairs made at the front. The original home-made bombs con- 
sisted of jam tins filled with explosives, bits of kon and rock and 
contained a fuse. When this fuse was lit and the bomb hurled into 
the enemy trench, it exploded, doing a certain amount of damage. 
Other amateiu* bombs were made from glass jars similarly treated. 
These improvised affairs, however, were quickly discarded and 
many new types were developed of varying degrees of efficiency. 
One of the most elaborate varieties consisted of a stick with a com- 
plicated bomb attached to one end and some pieces of ribbon 
attached to the other. These were swung by hand and hm-led into 
the enemy trench, the ribbons serving the purpose of guiding the 
bomb so that it would strike on the end containing the detonator. 
Many varieties were evolved but a small form, shaped Hke a lemon 
and capable of being thrown with great accuracy, soon superseded 
all others. After the pin had been removed from this Mills bomb a 
certain number of seconds elapsed before the bomb exploded. It 
proved to be the most efficient variety, was simple to manufacture 
and comparatively cheap. Another development was the rifle 



144 Canada's Sons in the World War 

grenade; it was really a bomb on the end of an iron rod which 
was inserted into the end of the rifie. When the rifle was fired 
off the bomb was projected into the air, and if the aim was accurate 
it fell into the enemy trench v/ith results much similar to those of 
a hand-bomb. The trench mortar was developed very rapidly and 
all the old armouries of the world seemed to have been ransacked 
for ideas. The writer saw one trench mortar, made of wood, lying 
on the roadside by an advanced dressing station, which looked as 
if it might have taken part in the Siege of Troy. 

This phase of warfare was rapidly developed by the Germans 
who devised trench mortars that could hurl huge projectiles of 
one hundred to two hundred pounds in weight with fair accuracy; 
on explosion these ^^minnenwerfer" would hterally wipe out the 
section of trench struck. 

Field artillery proved of httle value in trench warfare because 
the flat trajectory of its shells made them almost harmless on 
explosion to men living underground in narrow ditches in the 
earth. Against trenches shrapnel proved almost useless and the 
Allies began firing high explosive shells almost exclusively to 
destroy trenches and battery positions. 

The field howitzers played a far more important part in trench 
warfare. This type of gun fires its shell high into the air so that 
it descends almost perpendicularly. When such shells succeed in 
hitting trenches they do a tremendous amount of damage and if 
used in sufficient numbers to a given section of trench rapidly 
pulverize it. 

The misery and discomfort of trench warfare cannot be de- 
scribed or even imagined. The misery of it, particularly in the 
autumn of 1914 and the winter of 1915, baffles the power of language. 
Men fived and slept in mud and water sometimes inches deep, 
sometimes above their knees, week in and week out. Icy water and 
mud and the inabihty of the men to exercise resulted in "trench 
feet," a disease, in its mild form, somewhat similar to a glorified 
''chilblain." When untreated it rapidly developed into gangrene 
which might result in the loss of a limb or prove fatal. One new 
British division, coming from a warm climate into the trenches in 
the winter, lost such a large percentage of its effectives in the 
course of a few days that a thorough investigation was made by 
G. H. Q. and the officer in charge severely censured. Preventive 



The Princess Patricias in Action 145 

measures consisting in the drainage of trench systems, the universal 
use of duck-boards under foot, the systematic removal of wet 
socks, chafing the feet with whale oil and putting on fresh socks 
resulted in the rapid disappearance of the disease. Eventually 
it was made an offense both for the soldi^ who developed trench 
feet and for the officer under whose charge he was. 

The clothing and feeding of the British army was beyond 
criticism, and men returning from the trenches weary, dishevelled 
and indescribably dirty were soon restored to reasonable good 
humour and appearance. So efficient was the work of the com- 
missariat and the medical corps that the British sick rate was 
not more than three per cent; — less than that of many garrison 
towns in time of peace and infinitely lower than that during any 
war of the past. 

At this time the British army had lost more than the number 
they had first put in the field, and had been deprived of a large 
number of experienced officers. 

THE PRINCESS PATS UNDER FIRE 

The famous regiment known as the Princess Patricias Canadian 
Light Infantry, recruited by Gault of Montreal from men who had 
had actual experience in warfare, was, on August 12th, presented 
with colours by Princess Patricia, daughter of the Governor Gen- 
eral, the Duke of Connaught. These colours, worked by the Prin- 
cess herself, were the only colours allowed to be carried into the 
field by a Canadian regiment. In due course the battalion arrived 
on Salisbury Plain, and after the review of the Canadians by the 
King it moved over to Winchester on November 14, 1914. There 
it joined the Eightieth brigade of the Twenty-seventh British divi- 
sion. On December 20th, re-equipped with the British Lee-Enfield 
rifle, it moved to Southampton and after a short stay in Havre, en- 
trained for St. Omer where it arrived on December 23d. The journey 
north was the usual one in crowded trucks for eight horses or forty 
men. After some trench digging for a few days the battahon was 
inspected by Sir John French and on January 4th the brigade moved 
up to Dickiebusch and that night went into the fine. 

There the usual trench routine was carried on until February 
28th, when an attack was made upon a German Saphead with 
success. On March 14th the enemy in an attack secured the 



146 Canada's Sons in the World War 

front trench and the greater part of St. Eloi and the P. P. C. L. I.'s 
went forward from billets at Westoutre into action. While they 
were occupying the new support trenches Colonel Farquhar, their 
commanding ojfficer, was killed and was succeeded by Lieutenant- 
Colonel Buller. 

On April 9th the Princess Pats moved to Polygon Wood in 
the Ypres sahent and remained there during the gas attack on 
the First Canadian division. On May 3d an enemy attack was 
repulsed and the battaUon went into reserve. Diuing the shelling, 
which was continuous and heavy, Colonel Buller was wounded 
and was succeeded by Major Gault. 

On May 6th the P. P. C. L. I.'s went back into the front line 
and were there subjected to a terrific bombardment which continued 
all through the 7th. At dawn on May 8th the enemy attacked but 
was mowed down by rifle fire and withered away. The bombard- 
ment then became intensified, every wire was destroyed while 
whole sections of trench were blown in and the men behind them 
buried. By that time every signaller, orderly, pioneer and cook 
on the strength of the P. P. C. L. I.'s was in the support 
trenches. 

Major Gault was wounded and the command devolved upon 
Lieutenant Niven. Two hours later the shelling again ceased to 
permit of an infantry attack which the Canadians again repulsed 
with great losses to the enemy. 

The losses of the battahon were by this time very heavy, and 
enemy machine gims pushed forward swept the broken Canadian 
trenches. The brigade front was now battered beyond recognition; 
men were lying in shell holes or on the open ground and there were 
gaps of fifty yards without a survivor. 

The shelling again began and every semblance of the fire 
trench was destroyed; every officer except Lieutenants Niven, 
Papineau, Vandenberg and Clark had been wounded or killed. 
Another enemy attack was then made but was only partially 
successful when nearly all the garrison had been killed. At 11.30 
that night the remnant of the P. P. C. L. I.'s, 150 in all, were 
relieved and moved back into reserve trenches. 

There they were employed carrying up supplies and digging 
until May 13th when, with the Fourth K. R. R. C, they formed a 
composite battalion and moved into the trenches at Hooge Chateau. 



The Princess Patricias in Action 147 

After a successful counter-attack by the Twenty-seventh and 
Twenty-eighth divisions on May 24th the regiment moved to a 
quiet sector on the Armentieres front. In September the P. P. C. 
L. I/s, now re-enforced to full strength, moved to the Amiens front. 
On November 8th the regiment w^as ordered to return to the 
Canadian force where it was met by the band of the First Cana- 
dian division. 

On January 1, 1916, the P. P. C. L. I.^s were absorbed into 
the Seventh brigade of the Third Canadian division under Major- 
General Mercer and thereafter its history is that of the Third 
Canadian division. 

CANADIAN DIVISION ARRIVES IN FLANDERS 

On February 4, 1915, the Canadian troops were reviewed 
by King George and on the following day left SaUsbury Plains 
and entrained for Avonmouth en route to France. The division 
was under the command of Lieutenant-General Alderson. The 
First infantry brigade was commanded by Major-General M. S. 
Mercer, the Second infantry brigade by Major-General A. W. 
Currie and the Third infantry brigade by Major-General R. E. W. 
Turner, V.C., D.S.O. The artillery was under the command 
of Brigadier-General H. E. Burstall, the divisional engineers 
were commanded by Brigadier-General Armstrong, the divisional 
mounted troops by Lieutenant-Colonel F. C. Jameson and the 
divisional signallers by Major F. A. Lister. 

The division sailed from Avonmouth and reached the port 
of St. Nazaire in France in the second week of February. The 
division left England with high hopes, for it was recognized that 
men of finer physique were not to be found anywhere in England 
and it was confidently beUeved that their courage would prove 
equal to their appearance. Nevertheless it was natural that some 
of the most highly trained officers of the Canadian division should 
have some anxiety as to the ability of comparatively raw troops 
and officers to stand up against the superb military organization 
which Germany had so scientifically constructed. It was natural 
to doubt that civifians with a few months' training, no matter 
how brave and intelligent, could be a match for the arrogant 
barbarians who had swept over the allied countries in Europe. 

After a slow rail journey of some 350 miles from St. Nazaire 



148 Canada's Sons in the World War 

the Canadian division detrained a few miles west of Ploegsteert. 
The British army at that time held only the thirty miles of front 
lying between Ypres and Bethune. 

Immediately after their arrival the Canadian troops began 
taking their turn in the trenches. As was the custom they were 
sandwiched in, in small sections, between seasoned regiments. 
Later they went in by companies, then by regiments, then by 
brigades, after which the division was given its own section of 
front. It was found that the men quickly assimilated the elements 
of trench routine by actually associating with men who had been 
engaged in that work for some time. 

The Canadians were adaptable and soon fell into the routine 
of trench warfare. Shortly after their arrival the battle of Neuve 
Chapelle took place on their right, and although our infantry were 
not engaged in the fighting they were ready in case the attack suc- 
ceeded. The Canadian artillery played its part in the great attack. 

BATTLE OF NEUVE CHAPELLE 

By March, 1915, the British forces had been considerably 
augmented. In November the Eighth division had arrived, and in 
January the Fifth corps had been constituted with two new divisions, 
the Twenty-seventh and Twenty-eighth, made up largely of men 
brought back from tropical stations. In February the Canadian 
division arrived and at the beginning of March several new terri- 
torial divisions. The total British troops in Frace and Belgium, 
including all arms, amounted to about half a million, — an army 
twelve times as large as that v»dth which Welling-ton triumphed in 
the Peninsular War and fifty-five times as great as the force which 
charged with King Henry at Agincourt. It should be remembered 
that the niunber of infantrymen was only a fraction of this number. 

It had been decided that an offensive should be undertaken 
on the British front and the section chosen was that opposite the 
village of Neuve Chapelle. The enemy in that region it was 
thought would probably be off its guard and the section was of 
real strategic importance. In front of it rises the Aubers ridge 
which, if won, would command the approaches to Lille, Roubaix, 
Tourcoing and the cities in the plain of the Scheldt. If successful 
the La Bassee-Lille line would be threatened and Lille itself 
rendered untenable. 



The Princess Patricias in Action 



149 



The attack involved an artillery bombardment four times as 
great as anything we had yet undertaken. In order to destroy 
the enemy trenches and entanglements and to achieve success it 
was necessary that the staff work should be most efficient, for 
the infantry would have to advance unc'er the curtain of artillery 
fire which would precede them. If the co-ordination of different 
units was ineffective the attack was likely to fail. 




2 

RtKUtS vKStm fkfhvSVS 

Canals 

HacfS mentjoned iit Sir J. fr&ieHi 
dtspatch era undgrjin«ff. 



Where Bhitons Made History in the Early Days of the War 



On the 8th and 9th of March a great quantity of artillery of 
all descriptions was gathered together, including one of our new 
fifteen-inch howitzers. At 7.30 a terrific bombardment started, 
wire entanglements were blown up, trenches smashed and most 
of the German front disintegrated by the preparation which lasted 
for thirty-five minutes. A little after eight the infantry advanced 
as the gunners lengthened their range and shortly after 8.30 the 



150 Canada's Sons in the World War 

village of Neuve Chapelle was in our hands. Everything had 
gone well up till noon when trouble began. Telephonic communi- 
cation? had been all cut, and it was difficult to get orders back. 
There were unaccountable delays in bringing up the necessary 
reserve brigades and the opportunity for pushing on and seizing 
the ridge rapidly disappeared. 

The Germans, well protected by machine-gun fire, held up 
our advance and as night closed in it was necessary to dig in and 
strengthen the Hne we had won. 

The next day the Germans had ralhed and our asset of surprise 
had been lost while our great artillery effort had exhausted itself. 
By the evening of the 12th it was clear that we could not win 
the ridge, while the Germans were unable to retake Neuve Chapelle. 

The most severe German counter-attack vvas not at Neuve 
Chapelle but at St. Eloi, fifteen miles further north. On March 
14th, the Germans concentrated largely against the section held by 
the Twenty-seventh di\dsion near the Ypres-Armentieres road. As a 
result of the bombardment and fierce infantry attacks the British 
were forced out of their trenches and fell back but at 2 a. m. 
on the 15th March counter-attacked and recovered all of the lost 
ground of material importance. In this action the Princess Patri- 
cians regiment was engaged for the first time in an action of first 
rate importance and their deeds were the pride of the whole empire. 

This famous regiment, as has been mentioned, was originally 
composed of soldiers who had seen active ser^dce. Incidentally 
they were nearly all married men. The line in France in the 
winter of 1914 was exceedingly thin and trained reserves were very 
limited in numbers. Consequently the P. P. C. L. I.'s were de- 
spatched to France months before the Canadian di\dsion and 
took their place in reHeving strain on the hard pressed British. 

The battle of Neuve Chapelle in which we advanced on a 
front of three miles to a depth of a mile straightened out our line 
at that point. The ridges were not won but the enemy had a 
bad fit of nerves and suffered from something resembling a panic. 

The German casualties were about 20,000 while we took 
2,000 prisoners. The offensive put new heart into our men and 
made them feel that the new British troops had taken on the tra- 
ditions and fighting quahties of the old. British casualties were 
13,000 of which 2,500 were killed. 



CHAPTER XI 
The War at Sea 

When Admiral Von Spee, with the German Pacific squadron, 
left Kiau-chau early in August, his squadron consisted of seven 
vessels, one of which, the Emden, was detached for commerce 
raiding in the Indian Ocean, while the speedy hght cruiser Karlsruhe 
became a privateer in the South Atlantic. The vessels remaining 
wdth him consisted of the tv/o armoured cruisers the Gneisenau and 
Scharnhorst and the three light cruisers, the Dresden, Leipzig and 
Nurnherg. This speedy well-armed squadron set out to prey upon 
our commerce routes and found coaling and provisioning bases in 
Ecuador, Colombia and the Gallapagos Islands in South America. 
Neutrals were very obhging at that time, and in some cases even 
permitted the German admiral to use their wireless stations. 

Early in August, a small British squadron under Rear-Admiral 
Craddock had set sail to protect the southern trade routes. In 
this squadron was the battleship Canopus, two armoured cruisers, 
the Good Hope and Monmouth, the light cruiser Glasgow, and an 
armed liner Attrento. None of the vessels was strong either in 
speed or armament. 

In the third week of October Craddock^s squadron steamed 
up the coast of Chili toward Von Spee without the Canopus which 
had dropped behind for repairs. The re-enforeements expected 
daily from Great Britain had not arrived and the British admiral 
knew that in speed and range of gims his squadron was greatly 
inferior in fighting strength to the squadron of the enemy. 

On the 1st of November, about four o^clock in the afternoon, 
the German fleet was sighted. About seven o^clock in the evening 
the squadrons had approached within seven miles of each other, 
the afterglow of the sunset lighting up the British ships standing 
out to sea while the Germans were masked in the inshore twiUght. 
The eliemy got the range and at seven-fifty the Good Hope was 
set on fire and destroyed. The Monmouth was also set on fire 
and steamed out to the open sea in distress. The Glasgow, though 

(151} 



152 Canada's Sons in the World War 

under fire at a range of two and a half miles, and struck by five 
shells on the waterline, escaped. Later on she fell in with the 
Canopus, steaming from the direction of Cape Horn, and the two 
proceeded towards the Straits of Magellan. 

The news of this British disaster startled the British Admiralty, 
and almost at once Rear-Admiral Sturdee disappeared unheralded 
with a squadi'on to the South Atlantic. With him were the Inirin- 
cihle and Inflexible^ the two first battle cruisers built by Britain. 
They had a possible speed of twenty-eight knots an hour and were 
armed with eight twelve-inch guns. He had also three armoured 
cruisers, the Carnarvon, the Kent and the CGrnwall, and at sea 
picked up the Bristol and the Glasgow. The squadron was also 
accompanied by the armoured finer Macedonia. 

Von Spee was trapped by a clever scheme known as the "double 
bluff.'' A wireless message was sent to the British battleship 
Canopiis bidding her proceed to the Falklands. This message was 
intercepted by the Germans, who, as was intended, regarded it 
as a bluff, designed to mislead them. They befieved that the 
Canopus was already at the Falkland Islands and would be an easy 
prey. Admiral Von Spee, therefore, proceeded to the Islands to 
make a prize of the Canopus. Von Spee knew nothing about the 
presence of Sturdee' s expedition, a really remarkable tribute to 
the intelligence department of the Admiralty. 

On the 7th December the British squadron arrived at Port 
Stanley in the Falkland Islands, and on the 8th, Admiral Von Spee 
arrived from the direction of Cape Horn. The Germans advanced 
in fine to attack, and at nine-thirty, coming abreast of the harbour, 
saw for the first time the full strength of the British squadron. 
Von Spee at once put to sea with Stm^dee's squadron steaming in 
pursuit. At five minutes to one, fire was opened upon the Leipzig, 
and Von Spee, seeing that ffight was impossible, despatched his 
three light cruisers to the south. These were followed by the 
Kent, Glasgow and Cornwall, while the two British battle cruisers 
Invincible and Inflexible and the Carnarvon engaged the Scharnhorst 
and Gneisenau. At fom^ o'clock the Scharnhorst, pounded to pieces, 
turned bottom up and at six o'clock the Gneisenau also fisted and 
went under. 

The cruisers engaging the enemy fought desperately, and 
at seven-thirty the Nurnberg was set on fire by the Kent and went 



The War at Sea 153 

down while the Leipzig heeled over and sank at nine p. m. Only 
the Dresden, battered and fleeing far out to sea, remained of the 
German squadron. 

The fight resulted in the annihilation of the one squadron 
left to Germany outside of the North Sea and removed a formidable 
menace to our trade routes. On all seas there were then left above 
water the DresdeUy Karlsruhe, the Bremen, and the armoured 
merchantmen Kronprinz Wilhelm and the Prinz Eitel Friedrich 
of all the armed vessels belonging to Germany. 

The cruiser Dresden was caught off Juan Fernandez on March 
14, 1915, by the Kent and Glasgow, and sunk in five minutes, while 
it is beUeved that the Karlsruhe was wrecked in the West Indies 
during the autumn of 1914. 

In this fight the German sailors fought well and they went 
down v,dth colours flying and with the men lined up on deck. Appar- 
ently there had never been a thought of surrender. There can be 
no higher praise than this that the German sailors died as Crad- 
dock^s men had died. 

BOMBARDMENT OF DEFENCELESS ENGLISH TOWNS 

Early in the war the English people became obsessed with the 
idea that the enemy intended to invade England. As long as the 
Grand Fleet held the sea, invasion on a great scale was admittedly 
difficult or even impossible, though under cover of fog the possi- 
bihty might become a reaUty. With this in view the yeomanry 
and territorials entrenched themselves in the eastern counties 
while there developed much activity in the formation of national 
guards. 

On November 2d eight German warships left their harbour 
and, cleared for action, steamed towards England. At eight o'clock 
they were opposite Yarmouth and at a distance of ten miles bom- 
barded the wireless station and naval air station. Their shells 
fell harmlessly on the beach and after dropping a number of floating 
mines they returned home. It was merely a reconnaisance and 
intended to render the British people uneasy. The affair was not 
taken seriously in England. 

On December 15th, a day of thick mist on the Channel, a 
German squadron appeared off Scarboro, an open seaside resort 
mthout military defences. Approaching to within five hundred 



154 Canada's Sons in the World War 

yards of the shore they systematically bombarded every large 
object in sight, including the gas works, water works. Grand Hotel, 
churches, pubUc buildings, and hospitals. Five hundred shells 
were fired into the town during a period of forty minutes, after 
which the vessels moved northward, dropping mines as they steamed 
away. Eighteen people, mostly women and children, were killed 
and about seventy wounded. 

About nine o'clock Whitby was similarly bombarded, several 
thousand shells falling on and around the town without causing 
serious damage, only three being killed and two wounded. 

Another division visited Hartlepool which had a small fort 
with a battery of small antiquated guns. Off the shore a British 
gunboat, carrying 4-inch guns, and two destroyers lay when the 
four large German cruisers appeared suddenly out of the mist 
and opened fire upon them. The small British craft tried to close 
and torpedo the invaders but were driven off with a loss of half 
a dozen killed and twenty-five wounded. A bombardment of 
the fort with 12-inch shells was then instituted and in the course 
of half an hour about 1,500 shells seemed to have been fired. The 
battery stuck to its guns and though tremendously outclassed 
kept on firing with, of course, Uttle success. Churches, hospitals, 
schools, gas works and houses were destroyed. One hundred and 
nineteen people were killed and 300 wounded, whUe three steamers 
that night struck mines dropped by the invaders and sank. 

The attack came like a bolt from the blue and the citizens 
were suddenly plunged from profound peace into the midst of a 
nerve-racking war. The heroism shown by the civiHans, and par- 
ticularly among the telephone girls and children, was noteworthy. 

The news of the attempt had reached the British Grand Fleet 
and two battle cruiser squadrons moved out to intercept the 
raiders. The mist thickened till a series of fog belts stretched one 
hundred miles out from the British shore. They probably saved 
the German squadron from absolute destruction. 

The second battle cruiser squadron came within view of 
the enemy eight miles away and the trap was about to close when 
the fog thickened, the speed had to be reduced, and the German 
fleet made its escape. 

The German aim was to create a panic in civilian England 
which would prevent the despatch of the new armies to the con- 



The War at Sea 155 

tinent, and compel the Admiralty to move the base of the Grand 
Fleet nearer to the east coast. Both objects failed and no clamour 
was raised for the use of the new armies as a garrison for the British 
seaboard. 

Neutral nations, particularly America, were seriously scan- 
dalized at the bombardment of defenceless towns, and Germany, 
w^hich had at first made much of this exploit, undertook to make 
fooHsh explanations. 

The slaughter of civilians for the purpose of producing an 
impression was repellant to men trained in the etiquette of a great 
service like the British navy. The German navy, which had 
hitherto been admired, had begun to show its parvenu origin and 
its lack of centuries of tradition. 

BATTLE OF DOGGER BANK 

On January 24th another German battle cruiser squadron 
left Wilhelmshaven presumably to repeat the exploits of its pre- 
decessors. The complete purpose of the German admiral, however, 
was not known. On the same morning the British battle cruiser 
squadron under Sir David Beatty also put to sea. About seven 
o'clock the Germans were sighted off the Dogger Bank. The enemy 
fled, apparently with the purpose of luring our vessels into the 
dangerous mined Helgoland area. At nine o'clock our guns opened 
fire on the Blucher and the British gunnery thereafter made excel- 
lent practice, shell after shell at a range of ten miles striking pin- 
points that were moving at the rate of thirty miles an hour. At 
eleven o'clock the Seydlitz and Derflinger were on fire and the 
Blucher fell behind and sank. 

The fortune of the battle which had been going favourably 
for the British altered about eleven o'clock when Admiral Beatty's 
flagship, the Liorij was struck by a shell, which so reduced her 
speed that the British admiral transferred his flag to a destroyer. 
About twelve-thirty he was able to overhaul the Princess Royal, 
to which he retransferred his flag, but found that his squadron 
had broken off the fight and was retiring. The reason assigned for 
this was that the British fleet was approaching a mine field newly 
laid by the Germans, and consequently it was deemed advisable 
to cease the attack before the fleet had become entangled therein. 

The result was gravely annoying to Germany and the German 



156 Canada's Sons in the World War 

admiral was shortly afterwards removed from the command of the 
High Sea Fleet. 

The battle of Dogger Bank confirmed the British in their 
belief in the power of great guns, the excellence of British gunnery 
and the immense advantage of speed. 

SUBMARINE BLOCKADE OF BRITAIN 

Toward the end of January the German Government announced 
their intention of seizing all stocks of corn and flour; this meant 
that grain had become a munition of war. Merchandise, which 
was not contraband of war, had hitherto been allowed to pass into 
Germany in neutral vessels. Accordingly the British Government 
now found it necessary to revise its practice, and an American 
steamer, laden with foodstuffs for Germany, was stopped and the 
case referred to the prize courts. Germany, much agitated by 
the unforeseen results of the declaration, tried to modify it by 
stating that imports of food would not be used for mihtary pur- 
poses. Such a declaration could not be accepted by Britain because 
it was impossible in practice. Thereupon Germany, in a fit of 
anger, boldy declared war against all British merchandise, a war 
which would follow none of the old procedures, for it would be 
conducted by submarines which had no facihties for rescuing 
crews or passengers. Germany announced that from February 
18th onward the waters round the British Isles would be considered 
a war zone and that any enemy merchant vessel found there would 
be destroyed without warning. 

The blockade of Britain was not a blockade in a technical 
sense because Germany merely specified certain areas in which she 
proposed to commit acts forbidden by every code of naval warfare. 

The German announcement gave serious concern to neutral 
nations, particularly America. On March 1st the British announced 
that they considered themselves free to take into port all ships 
carrying goods of presumed enemy origin, ownership or destination. 
No neutral vessel saihng from a German port after that date would 
be allowed to proceed, and no vessel after that date could enter 
any German port. Such an announcement implied a strict blockade 
of Germany and was designed as a legitimate retaliation against a 
foe which had broken every international rule and every moral 
obligation. 



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The War at Sea 159 

German submarines immediately began sinking merchantmen 
in considerable numbers, the losses working out at about three per 
thousand of all saiHngs. The German blockade scarcely hindered 
the sailing of a single British ship; it did not even raise the price 
of necessaries, but it effectively ruined what was left of German 
reputation in the eyes of the civilized world. The German navy 
had no traditions and the humanity of submarine commanders 
depended on their personality. Some were as decent as their orders 
would permit of, while others jeered at the drowning sailors and 
passengers and even fired upon them when escaping in the life- 
boats. Of all the errors committed by Germany this was the greatest, 
for by their cold-blooded and heartless actions they absolutely 
alienated the respect of the navy and merchant marine. In its 
place they inspired a remorseless anger which added a new zest to 
the otherwise indifferent sport of hunting down and destroying 
those sea pirates. And when the war ended Germany found their 
most powerful and implacable foes in the organized sailors' union 
which refused to allow German goods to be carried in British ships 
for the next ten years. 



CHAPTER XII 
The First Year of War 

At the end of the first year of war the rich industrial region of 
Northern France with her great coal fields and iron mines, 
the greater part of Belgium and all Western Poland were 
under the German heel. The enemy was within only thirty 
miles of Paris and held all the high ground from La Bass^ 
to Ypres. Germany had defeated the Alhes in a series of great 
battles in France and Belgium. Her early defeats in Eastern Prussia 
had been wiped out by the complete overthrow of the Russian army 
at Tannenberg. Gahcia, which in the early months had been over- 
run by the Russians, had been won back with all its oil fields and 
granaries. Warsaw seemed to be doomed and the Russian armies 
were apparently broken for months to come. The AUies had few 
spectacular victories to their credit though Turkey had been beaten 
in Mesopotamia and the Caucasus. In France the alHed line had 
been securely held. Their attempt to force the Dardanelles had 
failed, the miUtary effort of Italy had had httle effect so far and there 
had been but Httle inducement for Greece, Rumania and Bulgaria 
to throw in their lot with the Alhes. 

On the other hand German possessions outside of Europe had 
melted away. Tsing-Tau, in China, upon which milhons had been 
spent, had gone; Togoland, in Africa, had become a British colony, 
and the rest of Germany's African colonies had been won or were 
on the point of falling. 

On the whole the honours of the first year appeared to lie with 
Germany, judging by facts alone. In looking beyond these bare 
facts, however, the outlook appeared in a different fight. 

Germany's plan of campaign depended on a speedy decision. 
She was to crush France, compel Russia to sue for peace and then 
deal with the rest of the world in her own good time. Her first 
plan had failed when her army was beaten on the Marne, her second 
plan had been then to seize the Channel ports, divide the Franco- 
British army and bring about peace before the winter. That plan 

( 160 ) 



The First Year of War 161 

failed when her army with odds of at least five to one failed to break 
our line and gain the Channel. Germany then adopted a third 
plan. She accepted the war of attrition for the moment and began 
piling up tremendous reserves of guns and munitions, which would 
enable her to hold her front with material instead of men-power, 
and would enable her to take the offensive with fewer men than her 
enemies, thus nullifying the increase in numbers which the allied 
armies were bound to shortly possess. 

A battery of hea^'y gims operated by women miles off can 
destroy hundreds of expert infantr3Tiien; who have no chance of 
attacking the engine of destruction. By accepting this third plan 
Germany condemned herself to a slow war, during which the Allies 
would add millions of men to their armies, though for a long time 
it would be impossible for them to manufacture the necessary 
war supplies at the same rate as Germany. With the war carried 
on for two or three years under these conditions Germany counted on 
the allied nations becoming restive and serious differences between 
the alHed governments arising. She realized perfectly well the 
potentiahties of Great Britain in men and material, but she knew 
that the British staff had been trained to handle small numbers of 
men only and would be unhkely to succeed when they would have to 
handle milHons. Under these circumstances she hoped for a draw 
which would enable her, after some years of recuperation, to again 
emerge to the attack. 

It must be remembered that Germany for twenty years at 
least had been building up this war machine of such great magni- 
tude and power. All the energies of an autocratic government 
and a docile people had conspired to perfect methods in machinery 
that would prove irresistible. 

After the war had begun the eyes of Germany's enemies had 
been opened, for the wTi tings, speeches and, above all, their deeds 
were damning evidence as to the preparations and purposes of 
Germany in the past. 

No price seemed too great for mankind to pay to destroy this 
arrogant people obsessed with beliefs that were hateful to the rest 
of mankind. 

She had con\dnced the Allies that peace, except through battles 
won on the field, would be absolutely intolerable. 

In Great Britain the truth about the German machine had 



162 Canada's Sons in the World War 

slowly come home to the people. There was much talk about organi- 
zation but organization simply meant to the average Briton the 
copying of German methods. The old constitutional catch-words 
were bandied about in the press, but the people, quicker to learn 
than the professional pohticians, knew that there was a great lack 
of national leadership. It was an excellent example of the fact that 
a democracy is rarely fitted for war and in the hour of need is almost 
compelled to seek a dictator or its equivalent in order to avoid 
disaster. 

The British people as a whole were remarkably ignorant of 
military questions. Nevertheless, though the censor eliminated 
much that was of absorbing interest, every man realized great 
facts, such as when Paris was nearly reached, Warsaw was in peril, 
when the Germans were succeeding and when the AUies were failing. 
But, not knowing that gigantic losses may have but little influence 
on the ultimate result, the average Britisher in the long months 
of mischance and defeat saw the campaign in colours much darker 
than the truth. 

The Allies as a whole had less inherent capacity for organiza- 
tion than the Germans and failed to pool any of their assets scien- 
tifically. They even bargained against one another in neutral 
countries in purchasing munitions and supphes instead of co-oper- 
ating in a big way. In one essential, however, the Allies were 
absolutely united, they had agreed to make peace as one power and 
they were resolved to make no peace which should be indecisive. 

On the map the situation looked bad for the allied powers, 
yet day by day the numbers of the enemy steadily grew less while 
the allied war machine was being builded. The element of time was 
on the allied side, tlieir armies had not been destroyed, their losses 
had been made good and it was perfectly clear, to the expert at 
least, that gains of allied territory meant nothing as long as the 
alhed armies were undefeated. 

The Allies worked harmoniously in spite of Teutonic endeavours 
to set labour against capital, to set the alUed countries against each 
other by insisting upon the unfairness of the part being played by 
the others. The seeds of strife fell upon unreceptive ground, for 
Germany had inspired a universal and intense antagonism. Fur- 
thermore, there was a sincere admiration felt by each allied army 
for the performance of the others. The Allies also were more 



The First Year of War 163 

disposed to criticise their own unpreparedness instead of their 
neighbours, and each was busy reconstructing and making the most 
of its own possibihties. 

Italy had joined the Allies in May, 1915, and Venezelos had 
tried, though without success, to bring in Greece against the 
Teutonic League. 

The situation in the Balkans had not yet resolved itself. 
The United States, though American steamers had been sunk by 
submarines and American lives lost, had kept her position of aloofness 
and merely protested by notes to which Germany repHed disdainfully. 

THE FALL OF PRZEMYSL 

In April, 1915, the Alhes looked to Russia with supreme 
confidence. The deficiency of men on the western front we hoped 
would be counterbalanced by an abundance of men which it was 
believed Russia must by then possess. It was generally held 
that Russia would assume the offensive either by advancing on 
Cracow or making a descent upon the Hungarian plains. The 
Allies counted upon Russia's offensive as the great offensive of 
the summer. It was, therefore, a tremendous disappointment 
when the Germans assumed the offensive and drove the Russians 
back into their own country. It was a bitter blow to the Allies 
for it involved the postponement of their main attack and the 
lengthening of the war. For Russia it was a season of great peril 
and much suffering and it required the whole fortitude of the 
nation to carry on with resolution and extricate their southern 
armies from destruction. 

Early in the spring the Russian campaign appeared to be going 
on most favorably to the Allies. Przemysl fell to the Russians on 
March 22d, and on April 17th Brussilov was within two or three 
days' march of the Hungarian plains. 

In five weeks of fighting in the Carpathians the Russian 
general Ivanov had captured 30 guns, 200 machine guns and 
70,000 prisoners. On April 25th, during the spring thaw, the Aus- 
trians developed another counter-attack against the Russians in 
the mountain valleys. It was a feint to mislead Russia and lead 
her to believe that they were making an attempt to reheve the 
pressure on the Carpathian line which might at any moment 
collapse and allow the invasion of Hungary. 



164 Canada's Sons in the World War 

The Germans had kept theu- secret v/ell. Three-fourths of 
their winter's accumulation of shells v/ere brought to Cracow 
and carried out by night to the front lines. Guns of every caUbre 
were transported from all over Germany and concentrated on 
the German front. In one section of twenty miles over 1,000 
cannon were placed in position. Tremendous quantities of en- 
gineering supplies, numerous hospitals and food depots were 
estabhshed, and, when all was ready, there was a sudden inflow 
of troops from the whole of the area occupied by the Central 
Powers. There never had been such a swift concentration of men 
and guns in the history of the world and Russia was caught napping. 
The Grand Duke Nicholas, Hke every other allied commander, was 
in absolute ignorance of the gigantic artillery strength which Ger- 
many had developed during the winter months. 

During April the commands and forces of the Teutonic League 
had been completely readjusted. The whole of the real attacking 
force had been placed under Von Mackensen, who had been a 
lieutenant of Von Hindenburg. His army was the strongest 
which Germany had ever gathered under a single general. He 
probably possessed eight of the new divisions of assault which 
had been created by picking out the finest men in the first line corps. 

The total enemy force was estimated to be about 2,000,000 
men, and, of these, at least ten corps were under Mackensen, who 
possessed probably 2,000 guns. 

The aim of the Germans was quite clear. The expenditure 
of a certain quantity of shells would make any position imtenable, 
and consequently, it could be calculated with mathematical ac- 
curacy that the Russian armies could be blown out of any position 
or series of positions which they would attempt to occupy. In 
consequence Przemysl and Lemberg would be recaptured, the 
valuable oil fields of Gahcia would be retaken and the Hungarian 
cornfields protected. Rumania would be kept out of the struggle 
and the ultimate result, if Mackensen proved successful in driving 
Ivanov out of Gahcia, would be the fall of Warsaw and the recovery 
of the Pohsh triangle. The immediate hope of the German high 
command was to put the Russians temporarily out of action. The 
assault had to be completely successful in order to achieve the 
object desired, for, if the Russians were driven over the border 
and split up, renewed action on their part would be impossible 



The First Year of War 165 

for months, and heavy re-enforcements could be transferred from 
the Russian to the western front. 

On the 28th of April Von Mackensen^s advance began and the 
fighting which followed was of the most violent, intricate and 
determined description. Russia fell back. Being weaker than 
the enemy it was her business to exhaust the great machine by 
stretching it out to the greatest possible limit even though hun- 
dreds of miles of territory had to be given up in the process. Con- 
sequently the Russians retreated, keeping in constant touch with 
the enemy, fighting rearguard actions, and exhausting the great 
German reserves of shells and material. The Grand Duke con- 
templated giving up Przemysl, which had been captiu-ed only ten 
weeks before as well as Lemberg, the first great fruits of Russian 
victory, and the city of Warsaw, which Germany had already 
tried in vain to capture on three occasions. 

Many engagements occurred during this retreat, which, in 
size and in the number of casualties sustained were equivalent to 
large battles. 

On May 15th, for example, Ivanov, in a counter-attack, fell 
upon the Austrians and beat them, the enemy sustaining 30,000 
casualties. In another counter-attack on the 9th of May the 
Russians on a front of one hundred miles cleared the Germans from 
the Dniester fine and drove the enemy back in some places as 
much as thirty miles. Such effective blows would have compelled 
a halt in the enemy advance if the Russians had not been too 
weak in men and material. 

The battle of San began on May 15th. By the end of May 
the Austro-German lines were pressing in on three sides of the 
defences of Przemysl and on June 2d Von Mackensen entered 
the city. Though made much of in the press and magnified both 
by Russia and Germany at the time of its capture, it was but 
an incident of comparatively small value from a military stand- 
point. 

It was interesting to note that during the German advance 
the wdngs of Von Mackensen^s army were pushed out beyond the 
centre and against these the Russians fought niunerous actions 
with signal success; but as soon as the heavy German guns arrived 
the Russian retreat would again be forced. This necessitated the 
constant shifting of the main enemy centre of operations, and, 



166 Canada's Sons in the World War 

while the great machine was getting in order for another move- 
ment it would be the function of another Russian army to take 
the next step in the offensive. 

The Russians took their toll of casualties whenever possible. 
On June 8th part of the great German army got too far away 
from its railways, guns and munitions, and the mobile Russians, 
attacking it in a three days' battle drove it across the Dniester 
with a loss of 15,000 prisoners. 

In spite of this continuous fighting and the losses incurred, 
the German army steadily advanced and on June 22d Lemberg 
was taken without opposition. The capital of Gahcia, after nine 
months, was once more in Austrian hands. Lemberg was of gen- 
uine value for it was the centre of a network of railways, and was 
a really strong fortress against invasion from the east. 

The fall of Lemberg marked the second great stage of the 
Austro-German offensive. During the seven weeks' campaign 
the invaders had probably lost in killed, wounded and prisoners 
nearly haff a milhon men, and a great deal of their store of shells 
had been used up. 

Russia had learned that whenever her troops got in close 
touch with the enemy she could beat him, but as long as it was a 
battle of long-range guns she was helpless. The result was that 
Russia, appreciating her deficiencies, made desperate efforts to 
organize her industries for the purpose of manufacturing shells, 
guns and other war material For most of her mimitions she had 
depended on foreign imports from her Allies and America. At 
that very moment Great Britain and France, realizing Russia's 
need, w^ere struggling to open the passage through the Dardanelles, 
an opening that would permit of the entrance of guns, shells, 
equipment and other necessities into Russia, and permit Russian 
wheat, food and other needed raw materials to be brought out. 

THE DAKDANELLES 

The Turks were a martial people and from the outset the 
Sultans of Constantinople reahzed that the defence of their capital 
and the existence of their empire depended on their security against 
naval attacks. It v^as of importance to bar the western entrance 
of the Sea of Marmora and the Turks had no sooner occupied 
Gallipoli than they began to fortify the Dardanelles. 



The First Year of War 167 

The Dardanelles channel between the Sea of Marmora and 
the Mediterranean separates Turkey m Europe from Asia Minor, 
and was designed by nature as a magnificent protection to the 
capital of the Bosporus against any naval incursion from the 
south. 

The strategic value of forcing the Dardanelles in a war with 
Turkey was clear beyond all doubt. The method adopted was 
foredoomed to failure. 

The history of Britain is sown with the failures of divergent 
operations. A divergent operation is quite different from a sub- 
sidiary operation which may be an attempt to destroy some enemy 
line of conmiunications, make him yield some property of strategic 
value or induce a neutral nation to make up its mind. A sub- 
sidiary operation strictly subserves the main object of the war. 
A divergent operation, on the contrary, has no relation to the 
main effort except that it is directed against the same enemy. 

Success in a divergent operation is quite consistent with 
utter failure in the chief campaign, and usually involves some 
wasting of the forces available in the main theatre of operations, 
as well as the dissipation of energy and brain power. 

A legitimate subsidiary operation may take place in a locality 
far removed from the main theatre, such as when Wellington 
wore down the strength of the French in Spain while the big stake 
was in Central Europe. If the force employed on such an opera- 
tion is not strong enough to effect the object it is much better 
left at home. A subsidiary operation must not weaken the main 
campaign. 

The fall of Constantinople would simphfy the Russian prob- 
lem and release troops for Poland and GaUcia; in fact, a mere 
threat to the capital might lead to a revolution in Turkey. The 
opening of the passage between the Black Sea and the ^Egean 
would give Russia a channel for exporting her acciunulated wheat 
and alter the rate of exchange so strongly against her. It would 
also provide a passage for the entrance of war munitions and 
raw materials. It would also have a most important effect upon 
hesitating neutrals. Italy was still undecided and the downfall 
of Turkey would impel her to action, while Greece, Rumania 
and Bulgaria would be greatly influenced and probably come in 
with the AlHes. 



168 Canada's Sons in the World War 

Mr. Churchill, Fu^t Lord of the Admiralty, in discussing 
the strategic purpose of the Dardanelles expedition said: 

You must not forget the prize for which you are contending, the army 
of Sir Ian Hamilton and the fleet of Admiral De Robeck are separated 
only by a few miles from a victory such as this war has not yet seen . . . 
I am speaking of victory in the sense of a brilKant and formidable fact 
shaping the destinies of nations and shortening the duration of the war. 
Beyond those few miles of ridge and scrub on which our soldiers are now 
battling Hes the downfall of a hostile empire . . . the fall of a world- 
famous capital and probably the accession of powerful AUies . . . 
there never was a great subsidiary operation of war in which a more 
complete harmony of strategic, pohtical and economic advantages had 
combined, or which stood in truer relation to the main decision which 
is in the central theatre. From the narrows of the Dardanelles and across 
the ridges of the GaUipoli peninsula He some of the shortest paths to a 
triumphant peace. 

On November 3, 1914, the combined French and British 
squadrons bombarded the entrance forts of the Dardanelles at 
long range. On December 13th a submarine entered the straits 
and torpedoed a Turkish warship guarding the mine fields, but 
nothing in earnest was done until the 19th of February, 1915. 
From the 19th of February to the 18th of March the attacks of the 
warships represented an attempt to destroy the defences of the 
Dardanelles and force a passage into the Sea of Marmora by 
naval power alone. Such an attempt was opposed by a very 
high naval authority while certain other naval authorities approved 
of it. 

The long-range guns and high explosives of warships have 
a low trajectory which makes it exceedingly difficult to hit an 
object like a fort more or less hidden on the tops of hills and 
defended, as they were, by earthworks and concrete. 

The notion was that the outer forts to the entrance of the 
straits could be silenced by the fire of ships from the open sea, 
while the attack on the inner forts would be carried on by fire 
from ships in the Gulf of Saros, firing their shells over the hills of 
the Gallipoli peninsula, the fire being directed by aeroplanes. 

The northern shore of the straits is formed by the Peninsula 
of GallipoH, a tongue of land some fifty miles long and varying in 
width from two to twelve miles. The country is a mass of rocky 
ridges rising to a height of over seven hundred feet from the sea; 



The First Year of War 169 

the hills are steep, and there is little cultivation of the soil. There 
are few villages, and no properly engineered roads, and all the land 
is covered by dense scrub three to six feet high. The southern 
shore is also hilly and on both sides the high ground overhangs 
the sea passage. 

The narrows are fourteen miles from the mouth and at this 
point the straits close in to a v/idth of about three-quarters of a 
mile. At the narrows, guns placed in position on the water's 
edge can cross-fire against ships ascending the straits; such ships 
can also be brought under fire from guns on the top of the narrows. 
Both sides are lined with batteries and once the entrance is passed 
all fighting has to be at close range. The channel was obstructed 
by fixed and floating mines which were allowed to float down 
with the current and torpedo tubes were mounted in concealed 
positions on the shores. To force a channel thus defended was 
practically impossible and could only be carried out by the co- 
operation of an adequate land army. 

The outer forts were silenced after a number of days by the 
converging fire of the warships standing out to sea, and on Feb- 
ruary 26th a number of North Sea trawlers set to work to sweep 
for mines in the entrance. 

Then three warships steamed in for a distance of four miles 
and attacked one of the forts at some distance below the narrows. 
Nothing serious was attempted on the narrows forts until March 
6 th, when six warships entered the straits and attacked the forts 
on both sides, just below the narrows, while the main attack was 
being dehvered by the Queen Elizabeth and Agamemnon lying in 
the Gulf of Saros on the other side of the Gallipoli Peninsula. 
On March 7th the attack was renewed both from within the nar- 
rows and from the outer sea, but the great effort was made on the 
18th of March when practically all of the combined fleet attacked 
the various forts which had not been silenced. On this occasion 
the Bouvetj Irresistiblej and the Ocean were struck by drifting mines 
and sunk, while the Gaulois and Inflexible were also struck and 
seriously injured. The Allies lost three battleships and more 
than 2,000 men, while the forts still remained in action. There- 
after the naval attack was not pushed, because the attempt had 
proved to the most optimistic that ships alone could never force 
such a passage, and plans were made for a land attack, to be 



170 Canada's Sons in the World War 

gallantly attempted later by the British and French forces 
including the Australian and New Zealand army corps. 

MILITARY METHODS 

Strategically, all the German preconceptions about enveloping 
movements died a sudden death with the opening of trench war- 
fare. In general, nothing revolutionary, or at variance with the 
accepted practices of war, had occurred. The doctrine as to the 
crushing effect of artillery against fort and field positions had 
proved itself. The German practice of massed infantry attacks 
had Httle to recommend it and succeeded only when artillery 
preparation had dissipated all opposition. It was a device neces- 
sary where armies had to absorb into their ranks raw and inferior 
fighting material. 

The German success with artillery was not their tactical 
handhng of it but their ample supply. The German staff saw 
exactly what part modern science must play in warfare, and 
they kept their eyes resolutely fixed upon it; and, as Germany 
was organized industrially, she exerted her full national strength 
in maintaining her supremacy. Germany introduced poison gas 
and Hquid fire which proved to be successful for the moment but 
failed eventually. These inventions seemed the devices of a fero- 
cious and merciless people and for that reason inspired tremendous 
feeling against the German people. They proved to be boom- 
erangs which later on returned to strike down those who originated 
them. 

The AlHes on the whole were satisfied that their theories of 
war had been justified. Their beHef in a high standard of rifle 
fire and attack in open order had proved to be successful where 
enemy guns had permitted of fighting at close quarters. Man for 
man it had been demonstrated beyond all question that the aver- 
age Russian, Belgian, Frenchman and Briton was superior to the 
German soldier. It was not altogether a question of courage but 
rather one of dash, fortitude, stamina and initiative which gave 
the AUies that temperamental superiority. This was shown most 
clearly in aerial work and bayonet work where the individual 
quahties of the AUies were most conspicuous. 

The question of numbers was most vital and it was clear that 
if Germany could not win in the first year of war she was doomed 



The First Year of War 171 

to defeat. As the Allies increased she would decrease, and it 
became apparent that she could not possibly hold her position 
indefinitely in spite of her temporary superiority in guns and 
shells. 

The naval position was wholly in favour of the AlUes. German 
merchantmen and German ships of war had disappeared from the 
seas. The German success at the battle of Coronel had been 
quickly redeemed by the destruction of the German fleet at the 
Falkland Islands. The battle of the Bight of Helgoland had 
showed that the British navy could still carry on war inside Ger- 
man territorial waters. The submarine campaign had affected 
httle of military purpose except the withdrawal of the larger 
British battleships from the Dardanelles. The British Grand 
Fleet, without any great battleships firing a shot, had carried 
out its task; its existence gave security to her commerce and 
with the aid of the cruiser squadrons kept the enemy inactive. 

Month after month these great ships swept the seas, steaming 
at night without lights, in the storms and the fogs and the black- 
ness of the North Sea winter, perpetually menaced by mines and 
submarines. There was no glory and nothing to reheve the mo- 
notony of their toil; it was something worse than the monotony 
of peace. 

In England no outstanding statesman had appeared. In 
Greece, Venizelos, a statesman of the first order, was busily en- 
gaged reconstructing a new Greece; in France, Delcasse, the wisest 
Foreign Minister in Europe, was an outstanding figure, but prac- 
tically no others of the first magnitude had as yet appeared among 
the Allies. The German leaders. Von Bethman-HoUweg and Von 
Jagow, were quite ordinary people. 

On the military side a few great generals among the Central 
Powers had appeared. Von Hindenburg had become a popular 
idol but his sledge-hanmier blows were only those carried out by 
the machine of which he was a part. Among the Allies the Grand 
Duke Nicholas and General Joffre probably overtopped all others. 
They possessed the comxplete confidence of their nations, and were, 
in a sense, real dictators, having genius for disregarding side issues, 
determining what was essential and capable of making great sac- 
rifices in a war which had to be fought on the defensive. Both 
commanders-in-chief possessed brilliant subordinates in men like 



172 Canada's Sons in the World War 

Alexeiev, Ivanov and Foch, the latter, even at that time, having 
claims to be considered the first soldier in Europe. 

The war in the first year depended less on the high commands 
than on subordinate leaders. Trench fighting and artillery com- 
bined to render major strategy ineffective so that the burden fell 
on the junior commands. The higher knowledge and training of 
the superior officer had seldom an opportunity to display itseff. 
Only in the work of the submarine and aeroplane where men got 
out of the grip of the ^'machine'' did brains find full scope. The 
doings of men Hke Von Weddigen, Max Horton and Nasmith 
under the sea, and Wameford and Garros in the air will rank with 
the most brilliant achievements of all time. 

THE WAR IN SOUTH AFRICA 

At the beginning of the war the Government of South Africa 
had cabled to the Imperial Government offering to undertake 
the defence of South Africa. The oft'er was accepted and the 
Union Defence Force came into being. 

As a preliminary to the invasion of Southwest Africa which 
General Louis Botha, with the approval of the British Govern- 
ment, was about to undertake, martial law was proclaimed through- 
out South Africa. As a consequence a conspiracy was unearthed 
at the head of which was Lieutenant-Colonel Maritz, General 
De Wet and General Beyers, all former Boer leaders, and numbers 
of conspirators were arrested. Most of the Boers, be it said to their 
credit, remained loyal. 

General Botha attacked and defeated General Beyers at 
Rustemberg on October 27th, while a small force under General 
Kemp was routed on November 5th. On November 7th the 
rebels under General De Wet defeated a small force of loyalists 
under General Cronj^. On November 12th the loyaHsts under 
General Botha completely routed the rebel forces of De Wet in 
a fierce engagement and the insurrection was practically at an end. 

The invasion of German Southwest Africa began on January 
5, 1915, and proved to be an unquaHfied success. Everywhere 
the little invading force was victorious and the German command 
capitulated in July, 1915, bringing to an end the terrible oppres- 
sion and massacres of the native Hereros who had be^i reduced 
by eighty per cent since 1890. 



The First Year of War 



173 




T R I P aL I V 



Kiao-Chow 



UPhihopme Q 



Ca'oiin« IS 



Q 



^ ^^- G. 



^4^ ?iC%. 



S^moa IS 




SOUTH 
A TL ANTIC, 
OCEAN 



Scale of Miles 
200 400 600 



Cape of 
Good Hope 

GiNgffAl DBAFTING CO. INC. N. Y. 



Towrj/ SOUTH ^SDt AH 
OCEAN 



Germany's Lost Colonies 
In August, 1914, Germany's colonial empire consisted of Togo, Kamerun, South- 
west Africa, East Africa, 1,045,289 square miles in Africa: and New Guinea, Caro- 
lines, etc., Samoa, Kiao-Chow, 94,826 square miles elsewhere; a total of 1,140,115 
square miles. 



174 Canada's Sons in the World War 

Togoland, which extends from the north shore of the Gulf 
of Guinea into the interior, was completely conquered by the 
end of August, 1914, by combined French and British forces. 

The conquest of the Kamerun was more difficult but was 
complete by June, 1915. The difficulties of this campaign in the 
jungle and the heat of summer are indescribable. 

The toughest of all the fighting in Africa was in German 
East Africa. The Germans began the offensive in late September, 
1914, by attacking Mombasa, the capital of British East Africa 
and the terminus of the Uganda Railway. The attack was repelled 
and the offensive passed into the hands of the British who, in 
November, attacked Tanga and Gassin. 

Gassin was taken by the British in January, but the garrison 
of 300 left there was recaptured by the Germans later on. In 
early June, 1915, the two British forces united, met the enemy 
and defeated him with heavy losses on June 22d. 

The attempt to capture Tanga by the Anglo-Indian force 
was a failure. After the conquest of Southwest Africa, General 
Botha, with the co-operation of Rhodesia, raised a force of 20,000 
men for service in East Africa. This force under General Smuts 
reached Mombasa on February 19, 1916. 

The main offensive began on March 7th against the Germans 
who were defeated at Kalie. After six months of marching and 
fighting General Smuts's troops, seriously reduced by dysentery, 
were halted and reorganized in October, 1916, 12,000 blacks taking 
the place of as many white troops. 

In April Belgian troops invaded the northwest part of the 
German protectorate, while in May a force of Union troops in- 
vaded it from the southwest. After seven months of strenuous 
campaign, two-thirds of German East Africa had been conquered 
by the combined efforts of the thi-ee alHed forces. 

The enormous distances to be covered, the small bodies of 
troops available, the almost impossible condition of supply and 
transport made it difficult to corner the enemy, and the cam- 
paign was prolonged through 1917 and 1918. In June, 1917, a 
new offensive was begun by the Allies and carried on relentlessly. 
On November 17th one of the two enemy forces romaining was 
caught. The other escaped into Portuguese territory and only 
surrendered in Northern Rhodesia on November 14, 1918. 




PLAYING THE CANADIAN SCOTTISH THROUGH YPRES 

Scene after the battle of Langemarck, in April, 1915, in the war-scarred city, 
over which three great battles were fought. The Canadian Highlanders played 
a heroic part in the great victory which preceded the advance. 



CHAPTER XIII 
Canadians Save the Situation at Ypres 

Within one hundred and fifty miles of London, in Belgium, Ues 
the bloody salient of Ypres. There, after a few weeks in the 
trenches near Sailly, the Canadians arrived early in April and 
took over a section of front between the French and the British. 
At that time the French filled in a section between the Belgian and 
British armies. 

To a Canadian, fresh from England, the pave road between 
Poperinghe and Ypres, as I passed over it for the first time on 
April 17, 1915, was of the greatest interest. With parties of British 
soldiers, blue-coated French officers on horseback, despatch riders 
dashing past on motor cycles, transport wagons, motor ambulance 
convoys, speeding by with their cargoes of wounded sometimes 
peering through the back; old v/omen coming from market, children 
playing on the roadside, great lumbering lorries and ofiicers in 
swift touring cars, it seemed like a moving picture specially staged 
for a modern audience. Every bit of transport, every soldier, 
every pound of food, ever}^ shell and gun and every other necessity 
for the army in the salient had to pass over that broad straight 
highway flanked by tall naked trees and intersected by trenches 
and wire entanglements. The country-side was as flat as a board 
and the roadside ditches brimming over with water made it impos- 
sible to dig proper trenches in the wet and soggy ground. 

PERSONAL IMPEESSIONS OF YPRES 

The city of Ypres with its houses of white stucco and red 
brick was clean and interesting. In the twelfth century it had 
a population of 200,000 people and had been not only one of the 
most powerful cities in Flanders, but a city richer, larger and 
more influential than London at that time. Though originally 
well fortified the fortifications had long ago been dismantled. 
The population had decreased to 20,000 and, with the exception 
of a few magnificent buildings like the glorious old Cloth Hall 

(177) 



178 Canada's Sons in the World War 

and the Church of St. "Martin's, its ancient glory had dis- 
appeared. 

To a Canadian this beautiful Cloth Hall of Ypres, with its 
graceful turrets, its square tower and its carved archways, even 
in ruin was something never to be forgotten. The roof had dis- 
appeared, the wonderful carved walls and statues had been smashed, 
and the interior woodwork, containing the famous painted panels, 
had been destroyed by incendiary shells. 

The city of Ypres was the centre or hub of the Ypres sahent 
which curved about it in the form of a semi-circle. Tens of thou- 
sands of British and French troops had already laid down their 
lives in its defence, for it was the gateway to the ports on the EngUsh 
Channel. 

The severest fighting of the war had taken place in the pre- 
vious autumn along this line, and the desperate nature of the 
struggle in the first battle of Ypres had never been exceeded in 
the history of British arms. 

It will be remembered that the Canadian division at that 
time was under the command of General Alderson, a Britisher, 
and the staff included several highly-trained British staff ojfficers. 
Nevertheless the commands were practically all in the hands of 
Canadians, — lawyers, business men, real estate agents, newspaper 
men and other amateur soldiers, who, in civilian life, as officers 
in the Canadian militia, had spent more or less time in the study 
of the theory of warfare. These amateur soldiers were faced by 
armies whose officers and men were professionals in the art and 
science of warfare and regarded themselves as invincible. 

On April 22, 1915, the writer visited the Ypres salient for the 
second time. 

On that April day the very essence of spring was in the air; 
the hedges of northern France were beginning to whiten with 
bloom, and the wild flowers were thick in the forest of Nieppe 
near Merville. It was the time back in Canada when the spring 
feeling suddenly gets into the blood, when one throws work to the 
winds and takes to the woods in search of the first violets. 

It was quite evident to me, as I retraversed the streets of 
Ypres, that it had been heavily shelled since I had been there 
a few days before. Many more houses had been smashed, immended 
shell holes were seen in the roads and the Cloth Hall showed further 



Canadians Save the Situation at Ypres 179 

evidences of shell fire. Scarcely a soldier was visible. We studied 
maps of the salient to learn the topography and saw where the 
French right joined up with the left of the Third brigade of Can- 
adians and where the right of the Second Canadian brigade linked 
up with the British. 

WHERE NO BIRDS SANG 

Passing through Ypres we drove on to Wieltze, intending 
to walk into the sahent to see that desolate, dreary, shell-shattered 
area where no birds sang. As we walked to the edge of the village, 
where we had left the car, we noticed a peasant planting seeds 
in the garden in front of his Httle house. The earth had all been 
dug and raked smooth by a boy and a couple of children. To our 
*'How do you do," he repUed: **It is a fine day/' looking up at the 
sun with evident satisfaction. 

As we tramped along towards St. Julien our attention was 
attracted to clouds of greenish-yellow smoke ascending from the 
part of the line occupied by the French. We wondered what the 
smoke could be coming from in such voliune close to the firing 
line. We seated ourselves on a disused trench and looked about 
us. An aeroplane flying low overhead dropped some fireballs 
which seemed to be the signal for the beginning of a violent artillery 
bombardment. Rising along the French line we could see this 
yellowish-green cloud ascending on a front of at least three miles 
and drifting, at a height of perhaps a hundred feet, towards us. 

"That must be the poison gas we have heard vague rumours 
about," I remarked. The gas rose in great thick clouds as if it 
had been projected from nozzles, expanding as it ascended. Here 
and there brown clouds seemed to be mixed with the general yel- 
lowish-green ones. 

"It looks Hke chlorine," I said, and the captain agreed that 
it probably was. 

The cannonade increased in intensity. About five minutes 
after it began a hoarse whistle, increasing to a roar like that of a 
railroad train, passed overhead. 

"For Ypres!" we ejaculated, and looking back we saw a 
cloud as big as a church rise up from that ill-fated city, followed 
by the sound of the explosion of a fifteen-inch shell. Thereafter 
those great shells succeeded one another at regular intervals, 



180 Canada's Sons in the World War 

the sound of each crash following the great black cloud in Ypres. 
The bombardment continued to grow in volume. In a field not 
two hundred yards away numerous *'coal boxes" exploded, throw- 
ing up columns of mud and water like so man}^ geysers. Shells of 
vaiious cahbres, whistling and screaming, flew over our heads from 
German batteries as well as from om* own batteries repl^dng to 
them. The air seemed to be full of shells flying in all directions. 
The gas cloud gradually grew less dense, but the bombardment 
redoubled in ^'iolence as battery after battery joined in the angry 
chorus. 

Across the fields we could see gims dra'^n by galloping horses 
taking up new positions. One gun we saw unlimbered not three 
hundi'ed yards from us, when within two minutes a German shell 
exploded, apparently not twenty feet away from it, and the gun 
was quickly moved to another position. 

Occasionally we thought that we could hear heavy rifle fire 
and machine-gun fh'e, but the din was too great to distinguish 
much detail. The expression commonly used at the front — ^'Hell 
let loose" — was the only teim at all descriptive of the scene. 

CHLOKINE GAS 

By this time our eyes had begun to nm water and become 
bloodshot. The fumes of the gas had reached us, uTitated our 
tlu'oats and lungs and made us cough. We decided that this gas 
was chiefly chlorine, with perhaps an admixture of bromine, but 
that there was probably something else present responsible for 
the irritation to our eyes. 

The Canadian artillery had e^ddently received a message 
to support, for do^ii to om* right the crash of om' field guns along 
the hedges added to the uproar. Along the road from St. JuHen 
came a small party of zouaves with then* bagg;^^ trousers and red 
fez caps. We stepped out to speak to them and found that they 
belonged to the French Red Cross. They had been driven out 
of their di-essing station by the poison gas and complained bitterly 
of the effect of it on their luns;s. Shortlv afterwards the first 
wounded Canadian appeai*ed — a Highlander, swathed in white 
bandages, sitting on a little donkey cart di'iven by a peasant. 

We could scarcel}^ credit what followed. 

Coming across the fields towards us we saw men running, 



Canadians Save the Situation at Ypres 181 

dropping flat on their faces, dodging into disused trenches and 
keeping every possible bit of shelter between themselves and the 
enemy while they ran. As they came closer we could see that they 
were French Moroccan troops, badly frightened. Some of them 
lay down in a nearby trench and ht cigarettes, only to start up in 
terror to run on again. Some of them even threw away their equip- 
ment after they had passed us. It was now quite evident to us 
that the Moroccan troops had given way before the gas attack. 

CANADIANS BLOCK THE RO.\D TO CALAIS 

Then our hearts swelled with the pride of race that so seldom 
comes to a man, for along the road from Ypres came a platoon 
of soldiers, marching rapidly. They were Canadians, and we knew 
that our reserve brigade was even now on the way to make the 
attempt to block the road to Calais so much desired by the German 
high command. 

Bullets began to spit up the dust aroimd us and about six- 
thirty we turned back towards Wieltze. 

Canadian soldiers Vrdth boxes of cartridges on their shoulders 
ran up the road towards the trenches; others, carrying movable 
barbed vrire entanglements, followed them. A company of 
Canadians took to the fields, on leaving Wieltze, and began advanc- 
ing in short mshes towards the German front. Another company 
was just leaving the village as we entered it, loading their rifles 
as they hurried along. 

As we approached Wieltze we could see ammunition wagons 
galloping along the road, v/hich forks from Wieltze and runs to 
Langemarck. Turning into the fields they would wheel sharply, 
deposit their loads of shell and gallop wildly off again for more 
ammunition, v^hile the crashes and flashes of the guns showed that 
they were being served with redoubled \dgour. 

At the edge of the village the peasant, whom we had seen 
in the afternoon preparing his little garden, came forvvard and asked 
"if Monsieur did not think it would be wiser for the women and 
children to leave." Behind him were the members of his family, 
each with bundles suited to their respective ages. The smallest, 
a girl of about six years of age, had a tiny bundle in a handkerchief; 
the next, a boy about eight, had a larger one. All were dressed 
in their best Sunday clothes and carried umbrellas. As we talked 



182 Canada's Sons in the World War 

to the father, the eldest, a boy of eighteen, came down the path 
with his grandmother, a little old lady perhaps eighty years of 
age and weighing about as many pounds. He crouched down, 
she put her arms around his neck, he took her feet under his arms, 
and straightening up, he set off with his burden towards Ypres 
with the rest of the family trailing behind. 

Small detachments of Canadian troops moved rapidly through 
the streets of Wieltze. Around the Canadian advanced dressing 
station crowds of wounded Turcos and Canadians waited their 
turn to have their wounds dressed. Villagers were loading their 
donkeys or dog-carts with household goods and setting out in all 
haste towards Ypres. Sometimes even their family cow was driven 
before them. We picked up a load of wounded Turcos and carried 
them to the ambulance at Ypres. Fresh shell holes pitted the road 
and dead horses lay at the side of it. Broken stone, pav6 and bricks 
lay scattered about everywhere. 

All the while the roar of guns and the whistle of flying shells 
increased. We reached the ambulance in Ypres between dusk 
and dark and forced our unwilling Turcos to descend. We had 
just entered the building when there was a heavy crash in the street 
outside, followed by the rattling and crash of glass and falling 
of bricks, while at the same time the piercing shrieks of a woman 
rang out down the street. In spite of this the surgeons kept on 
operating as if they were in a hospital in Canada. It is one of 
the beauties of the army system that each one of the army carries 
on under all circumstances. 

It was too risky to go through the centre of the town on account 
of falling walls, chimneys and fragments of houses. We, therefore, 
skirted the town and tried to get down a side road to Vlamertinge. 
It was choked with refugees and transport and there was no alter- 
native but to drive back through Ypres into the main Ypres- 
Vlamertinge road. There wagons, with horses whipped into a 
gallop, began to pass us going the opposite way, and motor trans- 
port lorries drove through at full speed. As we cleared the city 
the traffic became heavier and we gradually worked into, and 
formed part of, a great human stream with various eddies and back- 
currents. 

It was now dark, and but for the feeble light of a young moon, 
which sometimes broke through the clouds and faintly illuminated 



Canadians Save the Situation at Ypres 183 

the road, nothing could be seen. All headlights were out and not 
even the light of a hand-lantem or flash Hght was permitted by 
the military poUce. Yet one^s eyes became accustomed to the 
dark, and, when the pale moonhght came through, we could dimly 
see over on our right a hne of French-Turcos moving like ghosts 
along towards Vlamertinge. Next them were fleeing refugees 
with their bundles, wagons and pushcarts, and their animals 
being driven before them. If there were a cart the old man or old 
lady would invariably be seated on the top of the load, sometimes 
holding the baby. In the centre of the road we groped our way 
along with infinite care. A shadow would sometimes bear down 
on the car and suddenly swerve to one side as a horseman trotted 
by. A motor lorry would approach within a few feet of us before 
the drivers could see and stop before crashing into each other. 
On the left were troops "standing to^' all along the roadside. We 
felt very proud when we reahzed that they were Canadians and 
that they were the only troops at hand to plug the gap made by 
the German poison gases. 

At one time the road became jammed and we had visions of 
staying all night imder fire in the midst of a road block. Gradually, 
with the aid of mounted gendarmes and our mihtary poHce, the 
mass, composed of cows, wagons, horses, dogcarts, men, women 
and children with hand wagons and baby carriages, motor lorries, 
horse transport, lumber wagons, motor cycles, touring cars and 
mounted horsemen, was dissolved and slowly began again to flow 
in both directions. 

Looking backward we could see the red glow of fires burning 
in different parts of Ypres and the bright flashes of shells as they 
burst over that much German-hated city. All around the salient 
star-shells flared into the sky and remained suspended for a few 
minutes as they threw a white glare over the surrounding country, 
silhouetting the trees against the sky like ghosts before they died 
away and fell to earth. 

At last we reached Vlamertinge and entered the building 
occupied by the Canadian field ambulance. Lying on the floors 
were scores of soldiers with faces of a blue or ghastly green colour, 
choking, vomiting and gasping for air in their struggles with death. 
The faint odor of chlorine gas hung about the place. These were 
some of our own Canadians who had been poisoned, and I felt, 



184 Canada's Sons in the World War 

as I stood and watched them in agony that the nation, which had 
planned in cold-blood the use of such a foul method of warfare, 
should not be allowed to exist as a nation among nations, but 
should be taken and choked in turn until in himibleness and on 
bended knees it, too, craved for mercy. 

At midnight we arrived home, gray and ghastly from the 
effects of oiu" experience with the poison gas and its consequences 
upon our men. 

THE BATTLE IN DETAIL 

Before the battle the English and Canadians held the line 
from Broodseinde to a point haK a mile north of St. Juhen on the 
crest of the Grafenstafel Ridge. The French prolonged this line 
to Steenstraate on the Yperlee Canal. The Canadian division 
held a line extending about five miles from the Ypres-Roulers 
railway to the Ypres-Poelcapelle Road. The division in the front 
Une consisted of two brigades of infantry and the artillery brigades. 

About five o'clock the asphyxiating gas, which proved to 
be chlorine, was projected from a large number of cyhnders brought 
into the German front line trenches, and was carried by a gentle 
wind over the Canadian and French lines. The native French 
soldiers sustained the brunt of the gas attack and gave way all 
along the fine. The consequence was that the Canadian line 
remained with its left fiank exposed in the air. The Third or High- 
land brigade under Brigadier-General Turner, on the left, was to 
some extent disorganized by the gas, but the men held firm. 

As the German line pressed forward through the gap left 
by the retreating French it was necessary for the Third brigade 
to swing around to the south to prevent envelopment. 

It was not possible to throw the First infantry brigade, in 
reserve, into the fine at a moment's notice, and the enemy, advanc- 
ing rapidly, reached St. Julien two miles in the rear of the original 
French Hne. 

In the initial rush made through the breach four British 
guns loaned to the French were captured. 

A counter-attack, made after midnight on April 22d-23d by the 
Tenth and Sixteenth battahons, recaptured these guns, but it was 
found that they had been destroyed. The Third infantry brigade 
v/as shortly re-enforced by the Second, Third, Seventh and Tenth 



Canadians Save the Situation at Ypres 185 

battalions. All night long a battle of the most violent nature 
raged, in which the Germans made frequent assaults upon the 
Canadian positions. It seemed impossible that Canadian civihan 




Where the Germans Delivered Their First Gas Attack in 1915 



soldiers, fighting under such adverse conditions, could possibly 
maintaia a prolonged resistance. 

Early Friday morning further reinforcements, consisting of 
British troops under Colonel Geddes of the Buffs, arrived and this 



n 



186 Canada's Sons in the World War 

force, which became known as '^Geddes's Detachment ^^ played a 
remarkable part in the struggle which followed. 

At dawn on Friday the Second Canadian brigade still held 
its positions, but the Third Canadian brigade, as stated, had swung 
back upon St. JuHen. At this time the Germans made a powerful 
attempt to outflank the Third brigade, and, to afford rehef, a 
counter-attack by the First and Fourth Canadian battaHons was 
made upon the first Hne German trenches. 

This remarkable attack was pushed home in broad daylight 
in the face of a heavy frontal fiire into the open gap created by 
the retreat. It was made in the face of tremendously superior 
forces of men and guns, and its very boldness, — for it was practi- 
cally unsupported by reserves, — made for its success. 

In the face of a terrific opposition the German trenches were 
won back and held until Sunday night v/hen the remnants of these 
shattered but victorious battahons were reheved by fresh troops. 

Another gas cloud was projected on Friday morning at dawn 
upon both the Second and Third brigades mthout material result. 
The Canadians had by this time reahzed that it was best 
to face the gas cloud. It was discovered that breathing through 
a double handful of moist earth, or a wet handkerchief, absorbed 
a great deal of the gas, and nullified to a considerable extent its 
poisonous effects. 

During that night it appeared that several German divisions 
attempted to drive back the Third brigade and envelop its left 
wing. This enveloping movement succeeded to some extent; a 
certain number of Germans managed to get between the wood and 
St. Julien, apparently for the purpose of isolating the brigade 
from its base. Though vastly outnumbered and wearied almost 
beyond endurance, the Canadian Highlanders of the Third brigade 
hung on and maintained their position. Many v/ere the deeds of 
gallantry accomplished that day, enough, indeed, for a chapter 
in itself . -^ 

By all the rules of war the Third Canadian brigade was sur- 
rounded and should have fallen back, but they held the position 
and thereby once more dislocated German psychology and German 
calculations, which could not conceive of men holding such an 
apparently impossible position without assurance of adequate 
support. It was only when the artillery fire became so intense 



Canadians Save the Situation at Ypres 187 

as to render the trenches untenable that the Canadians, contesting 
every yard, fell back until the point of the saUent had fallen in 
to St. Julien. 

On Friday afternoon the Second King's Own Scottish Bor- 
derers and the First Royal West Kents reiaforced the Canadian 
left and the French attacking from the canal bank much farther 
to the left gave assistance in reheving the pressure. 

St. Juhen itself became untenable and a farther retreat of 
the Third brigade was ordered. This left the Second brigade, 
then commanded by Brigadier-General Currie, in exactly the same 
position which the Third Brigade had been in, and the same tactical 
manoeuvre of swinging around the left flank to conform to the 
movement of the Third brigade was adopted. 

General Currie had held his trenches from Thursday afternoon 
till Sunday afternoon at which time, even, they were not aban- 
doned. They had been obliterated. In the interval the left flank 
of the Second brigade was held by the Eighth battaUon of Winni- 
peg under Colonel Lipsett, and though at one time driven from the 
trenches by a discharge of gas the ^^ Little Black Devils'' counter- 
attacked and recaptured their trenches. 

At this time two British regiments, the Eighth Durham light 
infantry and the First Hampshires, filled in the gap between the 
Second Canadian brigade and the Twenty- eighth division.; 

On Sunday the situation was such that it became necessary 
to make an offensive as the sui'est way of stopping the enemy 
advance. General Alderson therefore ordered an attack by two 
British brigades, the Tenth and Northumberlands, which had been 
brought up in support. Sweeping through the Canadian Hues they 
gave ringing cheers for our men, the first intimation that the 
Canadian efforts were being appreciated by the British soldier. 
The attack succeeded and the German advance for the time was 
stayed. 

On Monday morning the two Canadian brigades were relieved 
by the British and went into reserve. It became necessary, however, 
to again call upon the Second brigade and General Currie marched 
his men, sadly reduced in strength, to the apex of the line which 
they held throughout the day. On Tuesday the brigade was 
again in reserve and on Wednesday went iuto billets. 

On May 4th General Alderson handed over the command of 



188 Canada's Sons in the World War 

this section of front to the Fourth British division and removed 
his headquarters to Nieppe. 

Such is a brief naked account of the Canadian fight of St. 
Julien. No kind of description can give a picture of the terrible 
conditions which our men were up against during those eventful 
days. 

Without adequate artillery support, and overwhelmed with 
shrapnel and high explosives which pulverized our trenches, the 
Canadians hung on. Groups of men, isolated in sections of trench 
or in shell holes, gathered up the rifles of the dead and carried 
on rapid fire until they almost dropped from fatigue. In some 
places platoons were reduced to six and seven men, who, without 
ofl&cers or even non-commissioned officers, carried on the battle. 

The Canadians to a man seemed obsessed with the idea tha,t 
this was their particular battle and that they would perish where 
they stood rather than give way. It seemed as if the '^Canadian 
clodhoppers," as the Germans had contemptuously called them, 
were in honour bound to stop that great German rush for the 
Channel. Only when full details are available, and the individual 
diaries and records of officers and units have been tabulated and 
compared, will the full story of the battle called ^'St. Julien" be 
made known to the Canadian people. 

The Canadians had proved themselves beyond all question 
and, in the words of General French, had saved the situation. 

Sir John French in his despatch said : 

In spite of the danger to which they were exposed the Canadians 
held their ground with a magnificent display of tenacity and courage, 
and it is not too much to say that the bearing and conduct of these splendid 
troops averted a disaster which might have been attended with the most 
serious consequences. 

It seemed an extraordinary thing that the Germans did 
not pour through the great gap which they had made that first 
night for there was little there to stop them. The passage which 
they so earnestly desired through the British lines to the Channel 
lay wide open before them. As in other cases they seemed to be 
unable to fully realize the situation and take advantage of it. 
They broke a great piece out of the line, but they did not know 
what to do when they had broken it. 

The effect of the Canadian success was unmediate both in 



Canadians Save the Situation at Ypres 189 

France and in England. The Colonials had made good and were 
fitted to take their place by the side of the finest British and French 
fighting divisions. Everywhere throughout France the word 
^'Canada" was greeted with enthusiasm and the work of the divi- 
sion was appreciated at its fullest value. 

The Canadian division had sustained 6,000 casualties. The 
men and officers as they appeared in billets afterwards were so 
changed in appearance that some of them were difficult to recog- 
nize. They were very tii-ed and could recall only a succession 
of blurred impressions of great noise, ferocious fighting and terrible 
excitement. 

The losses of individual battafions were very heavy, a typical 
example being the First battalion which lost 400 out of a total of 
800 men during one six-hundred-yard advance. 

The effect of the battle of Ypres was immediately felt in all 
its significance throughout the Dominion. The high proportion 
of casualties, the nature of the enemy attack and the quafity 
of the enemy troops combined to make this battle the most import- 
ant feat of arms which had ever taken place in Canada^s history. 

In the great contest of world powers the men of the young 
colony had shown their ability to take their place with the finest 
that the world could produce. Twenty thousand Canadians with 
eight months^ training had, under conditions which were unique, 
held their own. Smothered with clouds of poisonous gas, out- 
flanked, and with few reserves to support them, the Canadian 
troops held their own for days against the most highly trained 
troops of Europe. 

It was a great shock to the Canadian public when it was 
reafized that over 6,000 of a division composed of 20,000 men 
were casualties. For the first time the terrible nature of modern 
warfare was fully comprehended. It was the first personal expe- 
rience of young Canada and, like all great first experiences, it 
left an indelible impression. Every Canadian, however, expe- 
rienced a pride which was something new. In the test of battle, 
perhaps one of the greatest tests of manhood, Canadian men had 
made good; they had proved superior to troops whose lifelong 
training had been war, and who were equipped with every known 
engine of destruction in unlimited quantities. It was a strange 
mixture of pride, sorrow and determination to carry on to the 



190 Canada's Sons in the World War 

limit of our resources which comprised the dominant feeling of the 
Canadian people at that time. Everywhere flags vv^ere flown at 
half-mast and memorial services held throughout the country 
for the men, who, enduring untold privations and suffering, had 
paid the great price for the freedom of Canadians and the world. 

Great Britain also paid her tribute, and a memorial service 
was held in St. PauFs on May 2d for the Canadians who had laid 
down their Hves at Ypres. The clergy officiating were the Bishop 
of London, the Dean of St. Paul's, the Archbishop of Canterbury 
and the Chaplain General of the Forces. 

Representatives of the whole empire gathered at that service 
which began by the massed bands plajdng the Dead March. It 
was followed by a most eloquent tribute by the Bishop of London 
who said: ^^It was on that tremendous day when the French and 
British had been overpowered by poison gas that the manhood of 
Canada shone out hke piu-e gold; the example of these men will 
never die but will remain as a perpetual inspiration to their suc- 
cessors." 

The following is the text of the speech made to the Canadian 
troops under his command, after twelve strenuous days and nights 
of fighting, from April 23d to May 4th, 1915, by Lieutenant-Gen- 
eral E. A. H. Alderson, C.B., commanding the Canadian corps: 

I tell you truly that my heart is so full that I hardly know how to 
speak to you. It is full of two feelings — the first being sorrow for the 
loss of those comrades of ours who have gone; and the second, pride 
in what the First Canadian division has done. 

As regards our comrades who have lost their lives — ^let us speak of 
them with our caps off — ^my faith in the Almighty is such that I am per- 
fectly sure that when men die, as they have died, doiag their duty and 
fightiQg for their country, for the empire, and to save the situation for 
others, — in fact, have died for their friends — no matter what their past 
lives have been, no matter what they have done that they ought not 
to have done (as all of us do), I am perfectly sm-e that the Almighty takes 
them and looks after them at once. Lads, we cannot leave them better 
than like that. 

Now I feel that we may, without any false pride, think a little of 
what the division has done during the past few days. 

I would, first of all, tell you that I have never been so proud of any- 
thing in my life as I am of my armlet v/ith ''Canada" on it. I thank 
you, and congratulate you from the bottom of my heart, for the part 
each one of you has taken in giving me this feeling of pride. 



Canadians Save the Situation at Ypres 191 

I think it is possible that all of you do not quite realize that, if we 
had retired on the evening of April 22d — when our Alhes fell back before 
the gas and left our left flank quite open — the whole of the Twenty-seventh 
and Twenty-eighth divisions w^ould probably have been cut off. Certainly 
they would not have got away a gun or a vehicle of any sort, and 
probably not more than half the infantry would have escaped. 

This is v/hat our commander-in-chief meant when he telegi^aphed, 
as he did, that ''the Canadians saved the situation. '^ My lads, if ever 
men had a right to be proud in this world, you have. 

I know my military history pretty well, and I cannot think of an 
instance, especially when the cleverness and determination of the enemy 
is taken into account, in which troops were placed in such a difficult 
position; nor can I think of an instance in which so much depended on 
the standing fast of one division. 

You will remember that the last time I spoke to you, just before 
you went into the trenches at Sailly, now over two months ago, I told 
you about my old regiment — ^the Royal West Kents — ha\dng gained a 
reputation for never budging from their trenches, no matter how they 
were attacked. I said then I was quite sure that, in a short time, the 
army out here would be saying the same of you. 

I little thought — none of us thought — how soon those words would 
come true. But now, today, not only the army out here, but all Canada, 
all England, and all the empire are saying that you, too, stand fast. 

There is one more word I would say to you before I stop. You have 
made a reputation second to none in this war; but, remember, no man 
can live on his reputation. You must keep on adding to it. And I feel 
just as sure that you will do so as I did two months ago when I told you 
that I knew you would make a reputation when the opportunity came. 

I am now going to shake hands with your ofl&cers, and as I do so, 
I want you to feel that I am shaking hands with each one of you, as I 
would actually do if time permitted. 

SIR JOHN French's seventh dispatch 

From the Field-Marshall Commanding-in-Chief, The British 
Army in France. 

To the Secretary of State for War, War Office, London, S. W. 

Headquarters, 15th June, 1915. 
My Lord: 

I have the honour to report that since the date of my last dispatch 
(5th April, 1915) the army in France under my coromand has been 
heavily engaged opposite both flanks of the line held by the British forces. 

I. In the north the town and district of Ypres have once more in 
this campaign been successfully defended against vigorous and sustained 
attacks made by large forces of the enemy, and supported by a mass 



192 Canada's Sons in the World War 

of heavy and field artillery, which, not only in number, but also in weight 
and calibre, is superior to any concentration of guns which has previously 
assailed that part of the hne. 

In the south a vigorous offensive has agam been taken by troops 
of the First Army, in the course of which a large area of entrenched and 
fortified ground has been captured from the enemy, whilst valuable sup- 
port has been afforded to the attack which our AlHes have carried on 
with such marked success against the enemy's positions to the east of 
Arras and Lens. 

II. I much regret that during the period under report the fighting 
has been characterized on the enemy's side by a cynical and barbarous 
disregard of the well-known usages of civilized war and a flagrant defiance 
of the Hague Convention. 

AU the scientific resources of Germany have apparently been brought 
into play to produce a gas of so virulent and poisonous a nature that 
any hum_an being brought into contact with it is first paralysed and then 
meets with a lingering and agonizing death. 

The enemy has invariably preceded, prepared, and supported his 
attacks by a discharge in stupendous volume of these poisonous gas fumes 
whenever the ynnd was favourable. 

Such weather conditions have onty prevailed to any extent in the 
neighbourhood of Ypres, and there can be no doubt that the effect of these 
poisonous fumes materially influenced the operations in that theatre, 
until experience suggested effective counter-measures, which have since 
been so perfected as to render them innocuous. 

The brain power and thought which has evidently been at work 
before this unworthy method of making w^ar reached the pitch of efliciency 
which has been demonstrated in its practice shows that the Germans 
must have harboured these designs for a long time. 

As a soldier I cannot help expressing the deepest regret and some 
surprise that an army which hitherto has clauried to be the chief exponent 
of the chivalry of war should have stooped to employ such devices against 
brave and gallant foes. ... 

It was at the commencement of the second battle of Ypres on the 
evening of the 22d April, referred to in paragraph I of this report, that 
the enemy first made use of asphyxiating gas. 

Some days previously I had complied with General Jeffreys request 
to take over the trenches occupied by the French, and on the evening 
of the 22d the troops holding the lines east of Ypres were posted as follows : 

'Trom Steenstraate to the east of Langemarck, as far as the 
Poelcappelle Road, a French division. 

''Thence, in a southeasterly direction toward the Passchendaele- 
Becelaere Road, the Canadian division. 

* 'Thence a division took up the hne in a southerly direction east of 
Zonnebeke to a point west of Becelaere, v/hence another division con- 
tinued the line southeast to the northern limit of the corps on its right." 



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Canadians Save the Situation at Ypres 195 

Of the Fifth eorps there were four battaHons in divisional reserve 
about Ypres; the Canadian division had one battalion in divisional 
reserve, and the First Canadian brigade in army reserve. An infantry- 
brigade, which had just been withdrawn after suffering heavy losses 
on Hill 60, was resting about Vlamertinghe. 

Following a heavy bombardment, the enemy attacked the French 
Division at about 5 p. m., using asphyxiating gases for the first time. 
Aircraft reported that at about 5 p. m. thick yellow smoke had been seen 
issuing from the German trenches between Langemarck and Bixschoote. 
The French reported that two simultaneous attacks had been made east 
of the Ypres -Staden railway, in which these asphyxiating gases had 
been employed. 

What follows almost defies description. The effect of these poisonous 
gases was so virulent as to render the whole of the fine held by the French 
division mentioned above practically incapable of any action at all. It 
was at first impossible for anyone to reahze what had actually happened. 
The smoke and fumes hid everything from sight and hundreds of men 
were thrown into a comatose or dying condition, and within an hour 
the whole position had to be abandoned, together with about fifty guns. 

I wish particularly to repudiate any idea of attaching the least 
blame to the French division for this unfortunate incident. 

After all the examples our gallant Alhes have shown of dogged and 
tenacious courage in the many trying situations in which they have been 
placed throughout the course of this campaign it is quite superfluous 
for me to dwell on this aspect of the incident, and I would only express 
my firm conviction that, if any troops in the world had been able to hold 
their trenches in the face of such a treacherous and altogether unexpected 
onslaught, the French Division would have stood firm. 

THE STAND OF THE CANADIANS 

The left flank of the Canadian division was thus left dangerously 
exposed to serious attack in flank, and there appeared to be a prospect 
of their being overwhelmed and of a successful attempt by the Germans 
to cut off the British troops occupying the sahent to the east. 

In spite of the danger to which they were exposed the Canadians 
held their groimd with a magnificent display of tenacity and courage; 
and it is not too much to say that the bearing and conduct of these splendid 
troops averted a disaster which might have been attended with the most 
serious consequences. 

They were supported with great promptitude by the reserves of the 
divisions holding the saHent and by a brigade which had been resting 
in billets. 

Throughout the night the enemy^s attacks were repulsed, effective 
counter-attacks were deHvered, and at length touch was gained with the 
French right, and a new fine was formed. 

The Second T^ondon Heavy Battery, v/hich had been attach ^^^ io the 



196 Canada's Sons in the World War 

Canadian division, was posted behind the right of the French bivision, 
and, being involved in their retreat, fell into the enemy's hands. It was 
recaptured by the Canadians in their counter-attack, but the guns could 
not be withdrawn before the Canadians were again driven back. . . . 

In the course of these two or three days many circimistances combined 
to render the situation east of the Ypres Canal very critical and most 
difficult to deal with. 

The confusion caused by the sudden retirement of the French 
division, and the necessity for closing up the gap and checking the enemy's 
advance at all costs, led to a mixing up of units and a sudden shifting 
of the areas of command, which was quite unavoidable. Fresh units, 
as they came up from the south, had to be pushed into the firing line 
in an area swept by artillery fire which, owing to the capture of the French 
guns, we were unable to keep down. 

All this led to very hesivy casualties; and I wish to place on record 
the deep admiration which I feel for the resource and presence of mind 
evinced by the leaders actually on the spot. 

The parts taken by Major-General Snow and Brigadier-General 
Hull were reported to me as being particularly marked in this respect. 

An instance of this occurred on the afternoon of the 24th when the 
enemy succeeded in breaking through the line at St. Julien. 

Brigadier-General Hull, acting under the orders of Lieutenant- 
General Alderson, organized a powerful counter-attack with his own 
brigade and some of the nearest available units. He was called upon 
to control, with only his brigade staff, parts of battahons from six separate 
divisions which were quite new to the ground. Although the attack did 
not succeed in retaking St. Julien, it effectually checked the enemy's 
fiurther advance. 

It was only on the morning of the 25th that the enemy were able 
to force back the left of the Canadian division from the point where 
it had originally joined the French line, , , , 



CHAPTER XIV 

( 
The Battles of Festubert and Givenchy 

During the months of April and May, 1915, the French had 
been carrying on a series of battles along the whole front. In the 
north the last attack developed into a long-drawn-out struggle in 
the neighbourhood of Loos and Souchez. 

The French had proved victorious in most of these affairs 
but had run up against an entirely new proposition. The German 
Une had been broken in numerous places, but, instead of giving 
way, the series of sections isolated proved to be veritable forts 
bristling with machine guns which could enfilade any troops 
attempting to get by. Some of these struggles such as those at the 
cemetery at Ablain, the sugar refinery at Souchez, the White 
Road and the Labyrinth, were of the most terrible description. 

The Labyrinth, to take an example, consisted of a series of 
siu'face and underground passages, wired and protected by every 
ingenious device known. The German burrows were sometimes 
fifty feet deep, and the struggle, carried on by electric flash lamps 
in those underground galleries, was more like something evolved in 
the imagination of a Jules Verne than reaHty. During this period 
the AlHes began to reahze what a powerful weapon the Germans 
had created by their accumulation of artillery and shells and it was 
realized that such a machine could only be mastered by a similar 
machine of superior power. 

As an auxiUary effort to support the French in their struggle 
in the Artois the British began the battle of Aubers Ridge on May 
9th. Principally it was designed to detain the German Seventh corps 
in position and prevent troops from being sent as re-enforcements 
southward. If it proved successful we would win the Aubers Ridge 
which would enable us to threaten Lille and La Bass^e. The 
British attack was carried on by the First corps, the Indian corps and 
the Eighth division; the latter made the chief attack in front of 
Fromelles. It was an utter failure; the artillery preparation had 
proved quite insufficient to destroy the wire eutanglements and 

(197) 



198 Canada's Sons in the World War 

little progress was made, though many deeds of personal bravery and 
brilliance were rendered possible by its very failure. 

One had only to go through the ambulances and hospitals as 
did the writer during this series of engagements to realize what 
an impossible proposition our soldiers had been engaged in. They 
were quite depressed, realizing fully that the artillery support given 
them was quite inadequate and that they had been sent against 
impossible positions and mown down by machine guns like 
wheat. 

The next attack was on May 16th at Festubert by the Seventh 
division and Indian corps. The ground chosen was exceedingly 
difficult, being traversed by numerous ditches and water courses. 
The struggle continued during the month of May with little gain of 
ground and with heavy casualties. On May 19th the Second and 
Third divisions were relieved and their places taken by the Canadian 
division and the Ninth Territorial Highland division. 

The fighting at Festubert, though lacking in military success, 
was important from the fact that it was responsible for producing 
political changes in England. 

The Times correspondent returning from the front reported 
in the issue of May 14th that the first part of the battle of Festubert 
had failed through lack of high explosives. The British public, 
stirred by the heavy casualty lists and the failure of the spring 
offensives, upon v/hich they had fixed high hopes, set to work to 
discover what was wrong. As a result it became quite clear to the 
public that in future the fate of battles must be determined by 
guns and munitions; therefore there must be no shortage of muni- 
tions henceforth on any British front. As a direct result there was a 
crisis from which emerged the British coalition government. 
England began to see clearly the difficulties of war and the necessity 
of organizing her industries. This crisis paved the way for the 
War Coromittee, for the Allied Grand-Council-of-War in Paris, and 
finally for the pooling of all the allied interests and the placing of 
the allied armies under one supreme command. 

After the second battle of Ypres the Canadian division had 
been re-enforced from the Canadian bases in England and though 
these re-enforcements had not been trained in trench warfare the 
division took its place in the trenches on May 18th. 

Little time was available for the study of the ground and the 



Festubert and Givenchy 



199 



Canadians as a whole were not fully aware of the situation and the 
sector they were about to attack. 

After some preliminary engagements an attack was launched on 
May 20th against the position known as the Orchard by the 
Canadian Highlanders. After sustaining heavy casualties through 
machine-gun fire and unexpected delays from ditches and barbed 
wire the Orchard position was taken. 

On May 21st another objective, known as the Bexhill Redoubt, 




Where the Canadians Fought the Battles op 
Festubert and Givenchy 

was taken after a preliminary artillery bombardment, but this was 
recaptured the following day after German artillery had completely 
destroyed the trenches captured. At this time, owing to a shortage 
of men, King Edward's Horse and the Strathcona Horse took their 
position as infantry in the trenches for the first time, and were 
subsequently heartily congratulated by General Alderson for the 
work they had done. 

On May 23d a second attack was made on the Bexhill position 
and the redoubt was again occupied, though the Bexhill position 
proper had still to be taken. In the attempt to take this position 



200 Canada's Sons in the World War 

heavy casualties of men and officers were sustained. Trenches 
were held all day with heavy losses from enemy shelling. 

The fighting at this stage was of the most dashing description 
and many deeds of gallantry were recorded and many honours won, 
Among others, Sergeant Hickey of the Fourth Canadian battaUon 
won the Victoria Cross, but was killed later by a stray bullet. 

It was realized that troops were being wasted in large numbers 
in the attempt to take an impossible position, with the guns and 
munitions at our command, and the battle was brought to a close 
by Sir John French, who said: 

I had now reason to consider that the battle which was commenced 
by the First Army on May 9th and renewed on the 16th, having attained 
for the moment the immediate object I had in view, should not be further 
actively proceeded with. 

In the battle of Festubert the enemy was driven from a position 
which was strongly entrenched and fortified and ground was won 
on a front of four miles to an average depth of 600 yards. 

About 785 prisoners were captured and ten machine guns as 
well as some material and equipment taken. 

On May 31st the Canadian division was withdrawn from the 
territory it had seized from the enemy and moved to the south end 
of the British line where it carried on trench warfare until the 
middle of June. 

The battle of Givenchy, which, taken as a whole, was but an 
isolated battle in the long struggle that occurred on the western 
front, was in reaUty a very bloody affair for the Canadian division. 

On June 15th the Canadian battalions began the attack in sup- 
port of the Seventh British division. Though the Canadians won 
the first line of trenches the British division on their left was unable 
to advance, in consequence of which the Canadians were enfiladed. 
The affair was summarized in the despatch of Sir John French of 
October 15th: 

By an attack delivered on the evening of Jime 15th after a prolonged 
bombardment the First Canadian brigade obtained possession of the 
German front line trenches northeast of Givenchy, but were unable to 
retain them owing to their flanks being too much exposed. 

The losses of the Canadians in killed and wounded were very 
heavy; in one battalion of twenty-three combatant officers only 
three missed death or wounds. It was in this affair that Lieutenant 



Festubert and Givenchy 201 

Campbell of the First Canadian battalion had his entire machine- 
gun crew killed or wounded in the advance. The machine-gun crew, 
which reached the trench, was reduced to Lieutenant Campbell 
and Private Vincent. The tripod was missing and Lieutenant 
Campbell strapped the machine gun on the back of Private Vincent 
and fired continuously, holding up the German bombers who tried to 
work their way along the trench. Finally Lieutenant Campbell was 
wounded and Vincent dragged the gun, which was too hot to carry, 
away to safety. Lieutenant Campbell, though severely wounded, 
succeeded in crawling through water and mud to safety, but died in 
hospital the following day. He was awarded the Victoria Cross. 

After several days of heavy artillery fire the Canadian corps 
was relieved and moved northward to pass the summer in ^'Plug 
Street Woods." 

On July 1st, '^ Dominion Day," the first one spent in the war 
zone, was celebrated by the Canadians with dinners, games and 
sports enlivened by band concerts. 

The costly nature of the fighting in the battles of Festubert 
and Givenchy, particularly in view of the advances made, may best 
be gauged by the casualties. In the battles of Festubert and 
Givenchy the Canadians sustained 2,900 casualties. 

The heavy losses of the British in this type of fighting brought 
to the British people for the first time a true realization of the 
nature of the fighting. They learned that a machine gun properly 
placed could sweep down whole battalions of brave men. They 
learned that wire entanglements, properly constructed, could hold 
up whole divisions of the most heroic troops in the world, and that, 
until both machine-gun nests and wire entanglements had been 
completely destroyed by a preliminary bombardment, attempts 
to advance were useless. And finally they recognized the fact that 
this unlimited supply of high explosive shells, so necessary to the 
success of their armies, depended absolutely on the organization of 
their industries at home. Britain was at last awake to the situation. 

BATTLE OF FESTUBERT 

Sir John French's seventh despatch, dated June 15th, 1915, 
describing the battle of Festubert, is in part as follows: 

On the 15th of May I moved the Canadian Division into the First 
Corps area and placed them at the disposal of Sir Douglas Haig. 



202 Canada's Sons in the World War 

The infantry of the Indian Corps and the Second Division of the First 
Corps advanced to the attack of the enemy's trenches which extended 
from Richebom*g L'Avoue in the southwesterly direction. 

Before daybreak the Second Division had succeeded in capturing two 
lines of the enemy's trenches, but the Indian Corps was imable to make 
any progress owing to the strength of the enemj^'s defences in the neigh- 
bom-hood of Richebourg L'Avoue. 

At daybreak the Seventh Di\dsion, on the right of the Second, advanced 
to the attack, and by 7 a. m. had entrenched themselves on a line rumiing 
nearly north and south, haK-way between their original trenches and La 
Quinque Rue, having cleared and captured several lines of the enemy's 
trenches, including a number of fortified posts. . 

Sir Douglas Haig placed the Canadian and Fifty-first Divisions, 
together with the artillery of the Second and Seventh Divisions, under 
the command of Lieutenant-General Alderson, whom he directed to con- 
duct the operations w^hich had hitherto been carried on by the general 
officer commanding First Corps; and he directed the Seventh Division to 
remain in army reserve. 

During the night of the 19th-20th a small post of the enemy in front 
of La Quinque Rue was captured. 

During the night of the 20th-21st the Canadian Division brilliantly 
carried on the excellent progress made by the Seventh Division by seizing 
several of the enemy's trenches and pushing forward their whole line 
several hundred yards. A number of prisoners and some machine guns 
were captured. 

On the 22d instant the Fifty-first (Highland) Division was attached to 
the Indian Corps, and the general officer commanding the Indian Corps took 
charge of the operations at La Quinque Rue, Lieutenant-General Alderson 
with the Canadians conducting the operations to the south of that place. 

On this day the Canadian Division extended their line slightly to the 
right and repulsed three very severe hostile counter-attacks. 

On the 24th and 25th of May the Forty-seventh Division (Second 
London Territorial) succeeded in taking some more of the enemy's 
trenches and making good the ground to the east and north. 

I had now reason to consider that the battle, Vv^hich was commenced 
by the First Army on the 9th of May and renewed on the 16th, having 
attained for the moment the inmiediate object I had in view, should not be 
further actively proceeded with; and I gave orders to Sir Douglas Haig to 
curtail his artiUery attack and to strengthen and consolidate the ground 
he had won. 

In the battle of Festubert above described the enemy was driven from 
a position which was strongly entrenched and fortified, and ground was 
won on a front of fom- miles to an average depth of 600 yards. 

The enemy is known to have suffered very heavy losses, and in the 
course of the battle 785 prisoners and ten machine guns were captured. 
A number of machine guns were also destroyed by our fire, 



Festuberl and Givenchy 203 

During the period under report the army under my command has 
taken over trenches occupied by some other French divisions. 

I am much indebted to General D'Urbal, commanding the Tenth 
French Army, for the valuable and efficient support received throughout 
the battle of Festubert from three groups of French m_illimetre guns. 

In spite of very unfavourable weather conditions, rendering observa- 
tion most difficult, our own artillery did excellent work throughout the battle. 

The following congratulatory message came from the field 

marshal, commanding-in-chief, to the general officer conamanding 

the First Army : 

I thank you for the results obtained by First Army from Ma}^ 16th to 
date. Please convey my congratulations to the Canadians. 

THE SITUATION IN GREAT BRITAIN 

Of all the great powers Great Britain was the least organized 
for w^ar. Her historical and geographical position had given her 
certain fixed beliefs and a form of Government w^hich made new 
departures almost impossible even in a crisis. 

Her Allies on the continent looked to the British Empire to 
ultimately supply the multitude of trained reserves and the guns 
and material that w^ould finally tmn the balance. 

By June, 1915, the average Briton w^as wide awake and inclined 
to be impatient. The adoption of a scheme, national service, which 
had been put forw^ard, w^as much opposed because of the excellent 
response w'hich had been received to Lord Kitchener's appeal for 
recruits. The fact that voluntary recruiting v/as unscientific, 
unfair and costly did not enter into the consideration of the nation 
as a w^hole. National service implied that every citizen was at the 
disposal of the state, and also that every factory, w'orkshop and 
individual in Great Britain used for the production of v/ar materials 
might be as important in the final result as the men fighting in the 
trenches overseas. National service also involved the sacrifice of 
freedom of action and the temporary yielding by trade unions of 
rules and regulations v/hich had been gained only through half a 
century continuous of struggle. 

Great Britain opposed the '^mailed fist" of Germany on land 
in 1914 Vvdth practically^ an ungloved hand. Ten months after w^ar 
started it dawned upon the authorities at home that their armies 
were trying to fight against Germanj^'s high explosives vrith slu'apnel; 
that they were trying to oppose machinery with men. 



204 Canada's Sons in the World War 

On June 3d Mr. Lloyd George, Minister of Munitions, in a 
speech at Manchester frankly told the nation the truth. He spoke 
of the setback of the Russians in Galicia as due, not to superiority 
of the German soldiers or German generals, but solely due to German 
superiority of munitions. Applying the moral to the western front 
he pointed out that a similar superiority on the part of the Allies 
might have enabled them to drive the Germans out of France and 
Belgium. He declared that Germany owed this victory to the 
organization of her workshops and it was in the workshops of Great 
Britain that they must also look for success. He suggested that in 
the industrial field compulsion might be a necessity, for the 
country had not, as yet, brought one-haK of its industrial strength 
to bear on the problem of winning the war. In that speech by 
appealing to the spirit of equahty, of sacrifice, of service to the 
empire, and showing that the increased production of shells meant a 
corresponding reduction in the fives of soldiers sacrificed, Lloyd 
George stimulated the whole nation to a great new effort. This was 
the turning point in the war, for Britain set to work to beat Germany 
at her own game — to out-Krupp Krupps — and she succeeded. 

On June 29th a bill for a national register was passed, framed 
to include all persons, male or female, between the ages of fifteen 
and sixty-five. On June 9th a munitions department, with Mr. 
Lloyd George at its head, was formed. The problem which he had 
to face was a tremendous one. When it came to improvising mili- 
tary stores England found her machinery most inefficient and 
scanty. Since private industries had not been organized with a 
view to adaptabihty the business of increasing production pr ved 
lamentably slow. There was a universal shortage of machine 
tools and there was great competition for labour. 

The Munitions Act passed July 2d was designed to put the 
whole hidustrial system on a war basis. Arbitration was made com- 
pulsory in all trade disputes, strikes and lockouts were forbidden 
unless a month had elapsed without the Board of Trade taking 
action. 

The Minister of Munitions could declare any work a controlled 
establishment. Employers' profits were limited, the owner beiQg 
permitted to take out of the gross profits the net profits plus one- 
fifth, the rest to go to the state. Trade union rules and all rules 
practised and customs not having force of law were to be suspended 



Festubert and Givenchy 205 

if they tended to restrict production and employment. Wages were 
not to be affected by the introduction of semi-skilled or female 
labour. No changes in labour were to be made without the consent 
of the minister or a tribunal and finally the minister was 
empowered to make special regulations to which all employees 
in a controlled estabUshment must submit. 

The country was divided into ten munition areas and skilled 
workmen were brought from the front and the new armies training 
at home. In spite of difficulties, including the strike of the South 
Wales miners, progress was made and the nation as a whole settled 
down to the business of manufacturing military suppHes on a 
prodigious scale. 

Many stupid mistakes were made by the British Government. 
The volunteer who risked his life was paid one shilling a day; 
the motor drivers for the mechanical transport were paid six shillings 
a day, and the job was a safe one. The allowances for wives of the 
different classes of soldier varied, while the voluntary system of 
recruiting attracted men with large famiHes which had to be paid 
large allowances. 

The war had been carried on from the beginning on a most 
extravagant scale and already financiers and business men recog- 
nized that the expenditure could not go on indefinitely without 
some large increase in the national income. 

Hence rose the campaign for universal thrift in every detail 
in the private life of the citizens. 

The problem of increasing the national income was faced with 
courage and sense. Loans had to come out of the savings of the 
people because the market for foreign loans no longer existed. 

On November 1, 1914, the first national loan realized £350,000,- 
000 and in June, 1915, nearly £600,000,000 was raised by the second 
loan. 

In the domain of private effort the work of the British was 
marvellous. The British Red Cross Society, the Order of St. 
John of Jerusalem and the Voluntary Aid Detachment pro\dded 
nursing organizations without parallel. Private hospitals were 
sent to Serbia; nurses and ambulances went to the French, Russian 
and Belgian fronts. The civilian populations of France and Belgium 
were looked after by other organizations, while hundreds of thou- 
sands of Belgian refugees were absorbed into the social fabric of 



206 Canada's Sons in the World War 

Great Britain. Food supplies were sent to Belgium and huge sums 
raised for the relief of distress in Poland, Belgium, France, Serbia 
and other fields. Other organizations provided the luxuries and 
comforts for the troops, a feature that was greatly appreciated by 
the soldiers in the field. As men were absorbed into the army 
system their places were taken by women, who filled the positions 
of car conductors, chauffeurs, postmen, ticket collectors and so forth. 
The women's movement in England had given a large class special 
organization and discipHne. The leaders of the movement did much 
to rouse the nation through the press and the platform and none 
were more vigorous in their denunciations of slackness and talk of 
peace. The women of Britain saw only the opportunity for service, 
and, when the munitions difficulty revealed itself, they were quick 
to come forward. It was the women of Great Britain working at 
home no less than their men in the front-fine trenches which made 
ultimate victory possible. 

In March the British Government decla,red a blockade not 
exactly in accord with the accepted principles of international 
law. It called for the seizure and confiscation of non-contraband 
goods of German ownership, origin or destination, carried by neutral 
ships to neutral ports. As a result America's cotton export was 
seriously affected by the British poHcy and she pressed her claims 
with much force. Though much feeling was aroused, particularly in 
the southern states, the goodwill of the majority of American people 
and the anxiety of ministers in the United States and Great Britain 
to reach an agreement prevented a crisis. 



CHAPTER XV 
Fighting on Many Fronts 

In September, 1915, the German army on the western front 
consisted of 2,000,000 men. The 570 miles of front was held 
Hghtly at some points and heavily at others, depending on the 
nature of the ground. On the western front great changes had 
taken place in the Franco-British Hne. Thirty additional miles 
had been taken over by the British to the south, the Tenth French 
army being placed between the new Third British army under 
Sir Charles Munro and the First British army under Sir Douglas 
Haig. The British armies now consisted of 1,000,000 men under 
Sir John French and the French army contained approximately 
2,000,000 men. 

The unexpected increase in the British supply of munitions 
and the arrival of the new British divisions made it possible for 
an offensive which would have been deferred until spring. An 
offensive would reheve the pressure on the Russians in the east, 
embarrass the enemy and wear down his man-power. 

The Champagne region was chosen as the main theatre for 
attack, v/hile more or less serious minor attacks were to be made 
as far north as Ypres. The Champagne, with its rolling challc 
downs, was particularly suited for artillery and infantry attacks, 
as well as for aerial reconnaissance on a great scale. 

Early in September a general bombardment began along 
the whole allied front, but was particularly violent in Champagne, 
Lorraine, in the Artois and around Ypres. 

The sound along the front in those September days was like 
the continuous roll of thunder interspersed with the crash and 
roar of nearby thunderstorms as the local groups of artillery 
loosened up in special ^^ shoots.'^ One afternoon the writer dropped 
into the headquarters of the officer commanding a group of heavies. 
The batteries were in a pleasant orchard probably three miles from 
the German line, a place so secluded that no German aeroplane 
had ever succeeded in locating them. At the moment the guns in 

(207) 



208 Canada's Sons in the World War 

the orchard were crashing rhythmically, and in answer to my 
interested inquiry I was shown on a large scale map the objective 
of the moment. It was the station at Lille, ten miles away and 
six miles beyond the German hne. That was typical of what 
was happening along hundreds of miles of front. 

Every day there were numerous aerial battles in which the 
Allies were almost invariably successful, while numerous bombing 
raids carried on far back of the German Unes did great damage 
to railway centres, ammunition dumps and hangars. 

On September 23d thousands of guns let loose in an intensive 
bombardment which methodically destroyed the first and second 
German lines. The sky at night flickered Hke summer lightning 
pierced by giant flashes, while the gun fire at a distance sounded 
like the roll of enormous drums. At 9.15 on September 25th 
the French cleared then* parapets in the Champagne in the long 
looked for offensive. The German lines there were exceedingly 
strong; the complicated trenches laced with wire, contained 
huge dugouts, deep underground, reinforced with timber and 
steel; machine guns were placed in concrete and steel casements 
while hundreds of miles of light railways made communication 
at the rear simple. Preceded by a barrage from the famous 75 's 
the sky-blue-clad line of French infantry swept over the churned- 
up chalk and captured the first hne. The guns followed close 
after and fired from the open, while cavalry was sent through 
to clean up Germans before they could reach the second position. 

By nightfall the French had carried the German lines on a 
front of fifteen miles to an average depth of two and a half miles. 
The struggle continued until September 19th with the French 
still pushing forward. On that date another great offensive took 
place and the final line was breached for the length of half a mile, 
but the space was too narrow to attempt to pour through, the 
German guns came up behind it and the space was plugged. 

The battle of the Champagne was a strategic move in the 
nature of a straight frontal attack. A Uttle luck would have 
carried the French clear through the German front but, as almost 
always, luck did not favor the Allies. 

Subsidiary to the great effort in Champagne was the attack 
launched between Vimj'' and Loos on September 25th. The 
French army under D'Urbal attacked the Vimy Heights and 



Fighting on Many Fronts 209 

the British army under Haig attacked the La Bass^e-Loos front. 
In addition four other attacks were carried out by the British, 
at Givenchy, Neuve Chapelle, Bois Grenier, and near Ypres, 
for the purpose of pinning down the Germans on their respective 
fronts. The two main attacks at Vimy and Loos had the same 
object of isolating the railway junction of Lens and opening the 
road into the Scheldt plains. 

D'Urbal attacked with an army of seventeen divisions and 
made some advance the first day after hard fighting. On the 
second day they were remarkabl}'' successful, winning the lower 
slopes of Vimy and crossing the Souchez River carried Souchez 
village. On September 29th, in spite of the re-enforcing of the 
German line, with three corps the French had won the Heights 
of Vimy. 

To the north the four British attacks succeeded in their 
purpose of preventing the despatch of re-enforcements southward 
and inflicting heavy casualties. 

The main British attack was in a mining region, with, collieries, 
slag-heaps and an open coimtry free from trees and covered with. 
grass. The position was remarkable for its strength, and the 
Germans were justly confident in being able to resist any attack 
in that area. All that science and skill could do to re-enforce 
natural defensive featiu"es of the landscape had been done. Never- 
theless the British division, among which were the well-proved First 
Seventh, Forty-seventh and two new Scottish divisions, the Ninth 
and Fifteenth, swept forward with a dash that proved irresistible. 
French gunners were amazed at the beginning of this battle to see 
the Eighteenth London Irish kick off a football from the parapet and 
dribble it a thousand yards across to the first German line. Loos, 
two miles behind, was taken by the Highlanders, who swept up the 
slopes beyond it and over the top to the Cite Ste. Auguste beyond 
the last German position. The German line had actually been 
broken clean through by one heroic Highland brigade which had 
advanced four miles in three hours. So clean cut was the break 
that the Germans began to get away their heavy guns and the 
fate of Lille for a short time trembled in the balance. 

Unfortunately the only troops available to push through 
and take advantage of the situation were two new divisions. The 
writer had watched one of the divisions passing through the 



210 Canada's Sons in the World War 

village of Merville the day before. They had had no experience 
in fighting and had not been turned over by Sir John French to 
Haig for preliminary training in trench warfare. When the 
Highlanders had broken through the German hnes at the Cite Ste. 
Auguste these two reserve divisions were eight miles away. When 
they marched into the battlefield, with cookers and water carts, 
they were heavily shelled. Under the strain they gave way and 
most of the brigades had to be taken out of the line. 

The Fifteenth Highland division, composed of men v/ho had 
been civilians of all types one year before, came out of the battle 
with 6,000 casualties and a reputation for fighting that had never 
excelled. Other divisions, composed perhaps of equally good 
raw material but deficiently trained, lost what the others had 
gained. It was a bitter lesson and resulted in criticism which 
eventually led to the retirement of Sir John French and the 
re-organization of the headquarter' s staff under Sir Douglas Haig. 

There was great elation among the British wounded during 
the battle of Loos. The writer saw the first batch of wounded 
come in singing and wearing German helmets — as happy as a 
lot of sandboys. The British soldier felt that at last he had the 
guns and shells which would give him an even chance with the 
enemy. Granted this he felt that he could accomplish the rest. 

The net result of the battle of Loos was that we carried the 
first fine on a front of 6,500 yards, broke up his reserve positions, 
and at one point actually broke clean through. Three thousand 
prisoners were taken as well as twenty-six field guns. Altogether 
it was the most substantial victory to the credit of the British 
up to that time and greatly encouraged the army as indicating 
what could be done and would be accomplished in the future. 
Nevertheless it dampened the national ardour at home and was 
responsible for a further tightening of the national jaw and a 
determination to see the thing through. 

GALLIPOLI 

The failure of the great naval attack on the Dardanelles of 
March 18th made the authorities reahze that a land force was 
absolutely necessary to seize the forts and make the passage of the 
fleet possible. 

A combined contingent was therefore gathered up of French 



Fighting on Many Fronts 213 

and British troops. The French were under General D'Amade 
and the British under General Sir Ian Hamilton. M. Venizelos 
had failed to carry through his poHcy of intervention, and hopes 
of aid from Greece did not materialize. 

Sir Ian Hamilton was not only a briUiant staff officer, a gallant 
soldier and an efficient administrator, but a man of wide culture, 
an accomplished writer and a poet. 

The alhed strength of 120,000 men did not include any troops 
who had been definitely relied upon for the western front. 

It is difficult to see how any commander could hope to force 
a position of such natural difficulty as GallipoU in the face of an 
enemy amply supplied with guns and with superior forces. It 
was therefore logical to assume that 120,000 men would not be 
sufficient and that troops marked for the western front would 
later have to be called upon. It was impossible to surprise the 
enemy in Gallipoli because of the nature of the peninsula. To 
master Gallipoli meant an assault from the ^gean Sea upon 
shallow beaches and through gaps in the screen of yellow cliffs. 
These beaches were few and were situated mostly around Sedd- 
el-Bahr, Cape Helas and Gabatepe. 

The immediate problem of Sir Ian Hamilton was simple 
enough and meant that a landing must be effected at the apex of 
the peninsula and at Gabatepe. 

The force first landed must fight its way to Krithea while the 
second force would advance from Gabatepe against the pass lead- 
ing to Mardos. If the left wing of the first army could then unite 
with the right wing of the second they might force the Pasha 
Daja-da-Plateau; in such case the battle would be won, because 
artillery could be brought to the plateau w^hich would make the 
European forts untenable. The enemy's positions on the Asiatic 
side would also be dominated at short range and a combined 
attack by land and sea would give us the narrows of the Dar- 
danelles. 

The attack on Galhpoli was complicated and is difficult to 
describe. The Australians landed at Gabatepe at a series of beaches 
at the end of the peninsula. All of the landings took place under 
most extraordinary conditions, the shores were dominated by 
machine guns and riflemen upon the cliffs, while artillery swept 
the attacking forces. Most of the troops were embarked in boats 




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Fighting on Many Fronts 215 

well out at sea and towed inshore by steam pinnaces while others 
attempted to land from colHers protected with steel. Most of 
these expeditions came under terrific fire and suffered heavily 
before landing. Many were drowned and killed by rifle and 
machine-gun bullets before landing, while, after they had actually 
reached the beaches, they were subjected to the fire of snipers and 
machine guns which rained death upon them. 

Out at sea the great warships dehvered their heavy shells 
against the Turkish fines, while seaplanes above directed the fire. 
Royal engineers in the face of almost insuperable difiiculties cut 
roads up the rugged cliffs over which suppfies were carried to the 
men who had worked their way to the top. All the ammunition, 
water and food had to be dragged up these cliffs. At one beach 
troops were forced to take cover under the edge of the cliff for two 
days until repeated attacks had cleared the surrounding area of 
the enemy. 

Our losses were extremely heavy but positions on the top of 
the cHffs were finally won at all points attacked. 

After having become estabhshed an attack was made upon 
the Turkish fines with the main objective of Krithea village, but 
little ground was gained, the attack failed and the aUied attacking 
force was compelled to fall back. 

It was a fight without precedent — 60,000 men backed by the 
most powerful navy in the world attacking a shore seemingly 
impregnable and held by twice the number of Turks estabhshed 
in positions prepared for months and supported by modern artillery. 
Every rule of war was set at defiance. The problem of transport 
was sufficient to deter the boldest. The enemy, a gallant fighter, 
was at his best in this type of battle and he fought with courage 
and chivalry as our records showed. 

The attack on GalHpofi will always be recognized as a mighty 
feat of arms. 

In taking a bird^s-eye view of operations in Europe at the time, 
we see the French and British lines successfully holding the Germans 
on the western front; though both sides had endeavoured to 
break the line, neither had succeeded, and with the great German 
attempt to break through at Ypres at the end of April the Germans 
had temporarily abandoned the idea of piercing the alfied line in 
France and Flanders. Germany depended on her great superiority 



216 Canada's Sons in the World War 

in guns and her ability to hold the Franco-British troops at long 
range with them while she devoted her attention to disabling 
the Russian army in the east. The Russian army as we have 
seen was steadily falhng back before the superior weight of men, 
but particularly of guns and shells. 

England had not yet organized her industries to manufacture 
shells on a large scale, though France had done so and was turning 
out a supply several times greater than at the beginning of the 
war. America and Japan were supplymg considerable quantities, 
both of shells and material, and on these supphes Russia was 
depending. Russia's own faciUties for manufacturing guns and 
shells were limited but she was feverishly working to correct her 
failure. 

Outside supplies, ujifortunately for Russia, had to be brought 
in through the port of Archangel in the Arctic Ocean or across 
the single Trans-Siberian line from the Pacific coast. Her other 
great sea highway was closed by the Turkish army occupying 
Gallipoh and sealing up the Dardenelles. Consequently it was 
quite clear that the opening up of this passage would mean immense 
rehef to Russia and the struggle at GaUipoH was of vital 
interest. 

General Von Sanders, the Tiu*kish commander-in-chief, had 
200,000 men and plenty of artillery at the base of the GaUipoli 
Peninsula. To feed his troops it was necessary to carry suppUes 
through the Sea of Marmora to the ports of GaUipoli and Mados. 
If this water transport could be interfered with he would be com- 
pelled to carry his supphes and reserves along the Asiatic coast 
to Chanak, a route that was practicable but circuitous. The 
AUies endeavoured to make the Sea of Marmora impossible. After 
a preliminary attempt by an Austrahan submarine which was 
sunk on April 30th, Lieutenant-Colonel Boyle, Y.C., succeeded 
in diving under the mine fields and entering the Sea of Marmora, 
where he operated brilHantly for a few days. He managed to sink 
two Txu*kish gunboats and one large transport of troops. A few 
days later Lieutenant-Commander Eric Nasmith also entered the 
Sea of Marmora and played havoc with the communications and 
shipping. The results accomplished by them were very satis- 
factory because the Turks no longer regarded the Sea of Mar- 
mora as safe, no longer travelled through it and in consequence 



Fighting on Many Fronts 217 

their lines of communication were dislocated and delays of great 
value to the Allies occurred. 

The following account of Nasmith's exploits is worth repro- 
ducing as one of the most extraordinary feats performed during 
the whole war: 

The submarine E 11, in. command of Lieutenant-Commander 
M. E. Nasmith (V.C., D.S.O.) proceeded up the Straits of the 
Dardanelles accompanied as usual on the surface by hostile 
destroyers. Her vv^ireless went wrong and she was left deaf and 
dumb in the middle of the Sea of Marmora, trying to fix up her 
aerial apparatus in the intervals between dives to avoid hostile 
craft. 

Proceeding tov/ards Constantinople she sank a Turkish torpedo 
boat near that port and had her periscope smashed by a six-pound 
shell. After fitting on a new periscope, fixing her wireless and 
getting in touch with the authorities, she ran across a small steamer 
off Rodosto and halted her with rifle fire. Being full of aromuni- 
tion and guns the crew was allowed to get away in the boats and 
a demolition charge sent the ship to the bottom. Ell then chased 
another heavy laden steamer into Rodosto and torpedoed her as 
she tied up to the dock. She then drove a paddle-wheel steamer 
loaded with barbed wire on to the beach. As E 11 proceeded to 
destroy it she was hotly fired upon by a party of horsemen who 
appeared on the cliffs above. A torpedo missed the beached 
steamer and E 11, after recharging her batteries, proceeded slowly 
towards Constantinople. 

Next day she dived unobserved into the Constantinople 
harbour, greatly hampered by cross tides, mud and currents. 
After discharging two torpedoes which scared up the whole sea 
front and made the district exceedingly unliealthy, she dived, 
grounded heavily, bounced up thirty feet, was headed down again 
and found herself resting on the bottom and slowly revolving. 
The officers concluded that they were resting on the shoal under 
the Leander Tower, corrected her and once more made the centre 
of the Sea of Marmora. 

Wherever they boarded a craft and found nothing of conse- 
quence they ^^ parted with many expressions of good will." In 
between times they used the middle of the Sea of Marmora as a 
base and there bathed and did all their laundry work. 



218 Canada's Sons in the World War 

In the course of time, having done the maximum possible 
amoimt of damage, E 11 proceeded homeward, being nearly cut 
down by a steamer en route. In passing through the Straits she 
observed a Turkish troop ship at anchor but reserved her tor- 
pedoes for a possible battleship. Not finding any of these she 
returned and torpedoed the troopship. Having passed through 
the narrows she suddenly got out of trim and later on the officers 
heard a noise hke grounding, but knowing they were in deep water, 
came up towards the surface to investigate. There Lieutenant- 
Commander Nasmith saw a large mine preceding the periscope 
by twenty feet, apparently hung to the port hydroplane by its 
moorings. A mine may weigh from two or three hundred to a 
thousand pounds and they sometimes explode if you think about 
them. E 11 did not dare to come up to unhitch the mine on account 
of the shore batteries, so they pushed the thing ahead of them 
till they reached the open sea beyond Kum Kale. Then they 
went full speed astern and emptied the after tanks which brought 
the bows down. In this posture E 11 rose to the surface where 
the rush of the water from the screws together with the speed 
astern unhooked the mine and let it fall away. 

For these exploits Lieutenant-Commander Nasmith, D.S.O., 
was given the Victoria Cross. 

This is merely an example of what was occurring in many 
branches of the service during the war. For everything that 
came to the knowledge of the pubhc, there were a dozen others of 
which they heard nothing. It was the record of such tales as 
this which revealed unsuspected acti\'ities in the most unexpected 
places. The record of Nasmith as given above was paralleled by that 
of Commander E. Courteney Boyle, who also operated in the 
Sea of Marmora, and others. It will take volumes some day to 
record these exploits in detail. 

On April 30th some Indian infantry and part of a naval division 
disembarked at GallipoH in time to help repel an attack by the 
Turks which took place that same night. 

In the counter-attacks the Turks were driven out and but 
for barbed wire and machine guns it was believed that Achi Baba 
would have been carried. A Territorial division arrived on May 
5th and on May 6th the second battle of Krithea began and 
lasted three days. During this time the Turks were heavily shelled 



Fighting on Many Fronts 219 

by the warships, which literally peppered the Turkish positions 
with high explosives. 

The situation was an extraordinary one; the Turkish trenches 
were not more than two hundred yards distant and the dead could 
be seen lying in hundreds. Through a periscope one observer 
observed that '^ There are groups of twenty or thirty massed 
together as if for mutual protection, some lying on their faces, 
some killed in the act of firing, others hung up on the barbed 
wire. In one place a small group actually reached our parapet 
and now lie dead on it, shot or bayonetted at point-blank range. 
Hundreds of others lie just outside their own trenches." 

A third attempt upon Krithea and Achi Baba was made on 
June 4th and failed. The need for further re-enforcements became 
most urgent. Five weeks of constant fighting had not yet touched 
the outer Turkish position. The ground had been converted by 
German engineers into almost impregnable defences and the 
campaign had resolved itself into the kind in which progress can 
only be made by slow, laborious and costly frontal attacks in 
which the positions have to be won yard by yard. 

To the 31st of May the British casualties in the Dardanelles 
had amounted to 38,636, which included those which occurred 
during the landing and the first two attempts on Achi Baba. The 
losses for the three years in the South African war amounted 
to 38,156. 

Towards the end of May the appearance of German sub- 
marines, which sank the Triumph and Majestic, had compelled 
the withdrawal of the larger and more valuable British vessels 
like the Queen Elizabeth, which returned to England, leaving only 
a few of the older battleships and a number of cruisers and moni- 
tors. It was at this period in the Galhpoh struggle and when the 
German submarines had succeeded in driving away some of our 
finest vessels that Italy entered the arena taking her place with 
the AlHes on May 23d. 

The position attacked by our troops in Gallipoli was one of 
the strongest natural positions in the world. Sir Ian Hamilton 
said of it: *'The country is broken, mountainous, arid and void 
of supplies, the water found in the areas occupied by our forces 
is quite inadequate for their needs, the only practicable beaches 
are small cramped breaks in impracticable fines of cliffs. With 



220 Canada's Sons in the World War 

the wind in certain quarters no sort of landing is possible. The 
wastage by bombardment and wreckage of lighters and small 
craft has led to crisis after crisis in our carrying capacity, whilst 
over every single beach plays fitfully throughout each day a 
devastating shell fire at medium ranges.'* 

The Turk was no mean fighter and aided by German mihtary 
skill and science he was holding the road to his sacred capital 
against the enemy. His numbers were greater than ours and he 
had every advantage of ground, v/eapons and preparation. 

We had chosen to attack the Turk in his strongest fortress; 
he had every possible advantage. It seemed at the time like the 
shortest way to accomphsh our purpose, but it looked as though 
the scheme had been carried out in ignorance of the actual facts 
and conditions which were knowTi to scores of EngHshmen who 
had Uved and studied in the East. 

There were other possible avenues to Constantinople, through 
Thraice or along the southern shores of the Sea of Marmora, both 
of which were less difficult than the GaUipoH route because by 
these other routes the AUies could have advanced on a broad 
front and fought a campaign of open warfare. Success in either 
would have automatically cut off the supplies of Gallipoli and led 
to its fall and the opening of the Dardanelles. 

All through June the Turks made frequent attacks on our 
line but on June 21st the Allies began straightening out their 
front. Severe fighting occurred involving heavy loss of life but 
the AUies were successful in their attempt. The Turks are esti- 
mated to have lost 5,000 killed and 15,000 wounded during this 
period. 

The conditions in GaUipoH during the hot summer months 
jvere indescribable. The air shinmiered with heat from the sun- 
baked soil; stagnant pools of green water bred countless swarms 
of mosquitoes; there was an indescribable odor of dead bodies 
everywhere, and clouds of flies, hovering about, covered every- 
thing, spread disease and worried the soldiers almost beyond 
endurance. Nevertheless the spirits of the men and their cheer- 
fulness were beyond description. Kliaki knee breeches, a shirt 
and a sun helmet gradually became the accepted apparel of both 
men and officers. The Austrahans particularly fought and worked 
almost naked in the dusts of the trenches and only when the hour 



Fighting on Many Fronts 221 

of relief came was it possible for them to get to the shore and 
bathe in the ^gean Sea. 

Facihties were not available for taking baths, destroying 
garbage or washing, even if the water had been available for the 
pm-pose, and men were unable to keep down hce except by the 
ancient and honom^able method of handpicking. The result was 
that disease was rife in the peninsula and v/as responsible to a 
large extent for casualties in the Expeditionary forces. The 
fighting in July consisted mainly of sporadic Turkish counter- 
attacks, and small gains were made only after heavy bombard- 
ments and great expenditure of life. 

On July 12th the AUies made a determined effort to take the 
Krithea position. A considerable advance was made which brought 
Krithea very close but the heights of Achi Baba still remained 
far out of reach. 

The three summer months had been most costly. Six British 
divisions by the end of July had lost 50,000 men of whom 8,000 
were killed, 30,000 wounded and 11,000 missing. The French 
losses were comparable to ours. Our troops had shown a dauntless 
courage and devotion which was unexcelled. Little had been 
gained as a result of this huge wastage, and by the end of July 
the stalemate which had resulted compelled a revision of our 
strategy. 

NEW LANDING AT GALLIPOLI 

Preparations for a final attempt against the GaUipoH position 
were complete by the end of July. Six new divisions had been 
despatched to Sir Ian Hamilton for the effort. A new type of 
monitor, somewhat like a floating gim platform, of shallow draught 
and immune from torpedoes, arrived on the scene to replace British 
and French battleships. 

The new plan of offensive involved four operations. A feint 
was to be made on the Balair lines in the Gulf of Saros; an offen- 
sive was to be made against Achi Baba from Cape Helles; the 
Anzac corps was to advance and gain the heights and a great new 
landing was to be made at Suvla Bay. 

The plan, bold in conception, would, if successful, cut the 
Turkish lines of communication and enable the Turkish forts 
to be attacked from two directions. Its success depended entirely 

13 



222 Canada's Sons in the World War 

on the success of each attacldng force. Failure of any one would 
jeopardize the whole plan. The weakest part of the plan was 
the fact that three new untried divisions were to be used. 

The attack of the Australians on the Lone Pine trenches was 
made with irresistible fiu^y. Their objective was gained, and 
they hung on to the captured trenches with a stubbornness which 
was remarkable. Five thousand Turks killed and seven Victoria 
Crosses testify to the heroic nature of that combat. Attacks 
made on other sectors amid terrific heat, lack of water, clouds of 
dust, smoke and insects were too comphcated to describe in detail. 
Had the Suvla Bay venture proved a success, the central ridge 
of the peninsula would have been taken and the Anzac successes 
consolidated. But the force under General Stopford failed to 
take the Anafarta Hills, the Turks counter-attacked and the 
enterprise was again doomed to failure. 

After ten days a wonderful frontal attack was made by the 
renowned Twenty-ninth division. It succeeded to an extent, but 
failed in taking its final objective. 

Nothing material was gained in the August offensive and we 
were no nearer gaining a decision. The new line, lengthened by 
six miles and advanced at one point by a mile, was no easier to 
hold and commanded no part of the enemy communications. In 
three weeks the British casualties had been 40,000, of which 
30,000 had been sustained between August 6th and August 10th. 
The general plan was bold and practicable. It failed, owing to 
mistakes in detail, largely because raw troops had been used at 
a vital point and because there had been a lack of skill and reso- 
lution in handling those raw troops. The heroic actions of the 
Australians, New Zealanders and Indians had been negatived 
by these failures. 

THE WAR IN MESOPOTAMIA 

Little except the name of Mesopotamia is known to most 
people, and the campaign conducted there against the Turks 
was the least known of all the campaigns. Yet it had the great 
strategic purpose of defending India. Germany beheved that a 
blow struck at India would help to paralyze our effort in Europe. 
Primarily she coveted Mesopotamia which is potentially one of 
the most fertile countries in the world and had been, under ancient 



Fighting on Many Fronts 223 

irrigation methods, rich beyond compare. She coveted the oppor- 
tunities which Great Britain possessed in the East and she 
determined to divert into her own coffers some of the wealth to be 
gathered through eastern trade. Accordingly she built the Bagdad 
railway, developed trading schemes along the Persian Gulf and 
tried to stir up the Indian tribes and Arabs against the British. 

The primary object of the ISIesopotamia expedition was to 
keep the enemy from the shores of the Gulf and shut him off from 
India. On November 13, 1914, Basra, the port of Bagdad, was 
taken and the British Force entrenched itself upon the Tigris 
River. The Turks attacked us without success and it was then 
decided to take Bagdad, some three hundred miles further up 
the river, and by capturiQg that sacred City of Islam deal a heavy 
blow at Turkish prestige. 

The River Tigris is the sole means of communication between 
Bagdad and the sea. The flat plaias on either bank are iater- 
sected with swamps and dry cuttiags. The population is Aiah, 
semi-nomadic, treacherous and without loyalty to any country. 

On May 31st the British force dispersed a Turkish concen- 
tration at Kurna, and on June 3d captured Amara, seventy-five 
miles from Kurna. The remainder of the Turkish forces with- 
drew to Kut-el-Amara, one hundi-ed and fifty miles farther up 
the Tigris. With the capture of that point it was believed the 
port of Basra would be safe, and in early August General Town- 
shend's di\dsion v/as despatched up the Tigris. On September 
25th General Towmshend came ia touch with the enemy at Kut- 
el-Amara and on September 29th had, with less than 500 casual- 
ties, captured the position together with, one quarter of the Turkish 
forces. The operation was brilliantly conceived and executed, 
and the British force had arrived Y\dthin one hundi'ed miles of 
Bagdad. The campaign in Mesopotamia had assmned great 
importance for it became suddenly linked up vdih the menace 
in the Balkans, and the revelation of German strategy which 
threatened the Near East and India. 

Sh John Nixon and the Indian authorities now decided upon 
pushing on to Bagdad in spite of the protest of General ToT\Tishend 
who realized that v/ith only 15,000 weary troops, one-third only 
of whom T/ere white, he was enteruig upon a dangerous adventure. 

In early October General Townshend began his advance and 



224 Canada's Sons in the World War 

after routing a Turkish force of 4,000 at Azizie reached the ruined 
city of Ctesiphon. There he found 20,000 Turks strongly 
entrenched and drove them out of their first hne. The Turks coun- 
ter-attacked and were driven back time after time but the British 
were imable to advance and, after losing one-thkd of their forces, 
fell back to Kut where they were surrounded by the Turks. 

THE RUSSIAN FRONT 

By August 21st the German p-rmy had taken the forts of 
Warsaw, Ivangorod, Novo Georgievsk, Kovno and Grodno, but 
the Russian armies had still escaped destruction and the Germans 
had therefore failed in their objective. They had not succeeded 
by any signal victory to shake the confidence of the Alhes. Early 
in September, after four terrible months of continuous battle the 
pressure against the Russians slackened perceptibly. The Riga- 
Kovno Hne v/as now straightened and retreat was available every- 
v/here the Russians chose. 

At this time the Grand Duke Nicholas was replaced by the 
Czar as commander-in-chief of the Russian army and the Grand 
Duke was sent to be Viceroy in the Caucasus. To the Russian 
people it was a sign that the war would be waged to a triumphant 
conclusion. It was an evidence to Germany that Russia had no 
intention of quitting the arena. 

In September the Germans attacked the Russians at Vilna 
and, by crushing in their flanks, almost succeeded in trapping a 
large section of their army. But in spite of all their efforts the 
Russian army, fighting with extraordinary tenacity and skill, 
escaped once more. In the north Von Mackensen and ErmolK 
failed to win the Rovno and Sarny, and sustained 80,000 casualties 
in the attempt. The month of October had come and the German 
effort had still failed to achieve its aim. 

Nevertheless, the effect of the retreat upon Russia had been 
most marked. Two milHon refugees pouring into the country 
made the Russian people reahze what war really was. They had 
all to be provided for by the civihan population. When the 
Duma met in August, astocishing revelations as to German 
influences in Russia were made, particularly in regard to the 
control of the output of munitions. Unfortunately the Duma, 
the only assembly capable of expressing the popular will, became 



Fighting on Many Fronts 225 

controversial in character and was prorogued till November. 
The Czar summoned the leaders and persuaded them to drop 
controversial matters, and a new Duma was assembled — a popular 
chamber demanded by progressives and reactionaries ahke. 

ITALY ENTERS THE W^AR 

Italy had been a member of the Triple Alliance with Germany 
and Austro-Hungary, the terms of which bound the nations to 
stand by each other in case of attack. When war broke out in 1914 
Italy refused to throw in her lot with the Central Powers because 
they had been the aggressors, an opinion which was the verdict of 
the whole world. For many long years there had been a marked 
friendship between Italy and Great Britain. Reahzing the danger 
to the Central Powers through Italy throwing in her lot with the 
AlHes, Germany made every effort to keep her neutral. Even their 
tame socialists were sent to Italy to lu'ge Itahan sociahsts to keep 
the country out of the war. Italy's geographical position would 
have made it exceedingly difficult for her to enter war against 
France or England because her long coast Une could be attacked 
with impunity by French and English navies. In view of this fact 
the Triple Alhance carried a proviso that Italy was not bound to 
fight England in case of war. 

The aUiance with Italy had been brought about by Bismarck 
who engineered the situation which resulted in the French seizing 
Tunis in 1882. This angered the ItaHans so much that they 
accepted a place in the Triple Alliance which would protect them 
from France and Austria. England at that time was in the position 
of '^splendid isolation'' and had no European alliances. 

One result of the Triple AUiance was that Germany obtained a 
strong commercial and financial hold in Italy. Nevertheless 
Austria, her natural enemy though her ally, did everything possible 
to irritate Italy except actually declare war; and at last the arro- 
gance of the two central powers became so great that the claims of 
their Itahan ally in the Balkan peninsula wxre completely ignored. 
Italy's eyes were finally opened wide by the overt act of the Central 
Powers in seizing Bosnia and Herzegovina. In spite of their 
alliance no love had ever been lost between the Germans and the 
Italians. 

After almost a year of negotiation, in which the Italian govern- 



226 Canada's Sons in the World War 

ment won on technical points alone, the road was open for Italy to 
declare war. 

The country, during that period, had been flooded with German 
propaganda, newspapers had been subsidized and much German 
money spent in endeavouring to keep the country neutral, yet when 
the time came pubhc opinion in Italy swept all before it and the 
nation by a vote of 470 to 74 decided upon war. Italy declared war 
upon Austria on May 23, 1915, though it was a year later before she 
declared war upon Germany. 

The scene which took place at the rear of the Public Tribune 
when the Chamber was about to declare war was a memorable 
one. Gabriel D'Annunzio, the great Italian poet and T\Titer, who 
had preached war with all his great oratorical povv^ers throughout 
the country, was seized by the people and passed shoulder high over 
the crowds which jammed the space. The entire Chamber and 
those occup^dng the other Tribunes rose to their feet and applauded 
for several minutes crying ^'Viva D'Annunzio.'' Later on this 
gi^eat \\Titer showed himself as a naval officer equally great in tor- 
pedoing Austrian battleships, or as an aviator leading air squadrons 
in battle hne over Austrian territory. 

During the period since the war first began in 1914, General 
Cadorna had been bringing the army up to date and piling up 
munitions. 

In Italy every man was Hable to a period of mihtary service of 
nineteen years. At the time of the war the approximate strength 
of the army was 3,000,000, of which more than 1,200,000 were 
fully trained soldiers, and 800,000 were partially trained. 

On the day that war was declared Austria struck the first blow 
by dropping bom^bs on Venice and bom_barding the Adiiatic ports. 
The Italian army invaded Austria with great rapidity advancing 
across the Isonzo Eiver northwest of Trieste and towards Gorizia 
in the north. 

On June 7th the general Itahan advance took place on a front 
of forty miles but failed to capture Trieste, though they were 
within nine miles of it. 

The Austrian front which up to that time had been defended 
chiefly wdth hastily mobilized troops was now re-enforced by some 
of the finest fighters from the Galician front and the Itauan advance 
was stayed. 



Fighting on Many Fronts 227 

BULGARIA DECLARES WAR ON SERBIA 

When Germany failed to crush the Russian army at Vihia 
she immediately entered upon a new campaign to maintain her 
prestige and sicken the AlHes of the war. This time she chose 
to attack Serbia — a venture that promised an easy and rapid suc- 
cess. The army of invasion under the command of Mackensen 
was composed of Austrians re-enforced by some German regiments 
and the assistance of Bulgaria was counted on. 

Bulgaria at the beginning of the war negotiated with the Allies 
in an effort to regain some of the territory lost in the second Balkan 
war. A large proportion of the Bulgars sympathized with Russia, 
but the Germ^an advance in Galicia and the Alhes' failure in the 
Dardanelles prevented any concrete action in favor of the AUies. 
King Ferdinand of Saxe-Cobom^g-Gotha was a German and one 
of the most cunning men in Europe. With his pro-German sym- 
pathies and numerous supporters he managed to keep Bulgaria 
free of any alliance with the Allies and to promote by every 
possible means the feeling that the Central Powers must inevitably 
win and that Bulgaria should therefore be on the winning side. 
In mid July a secret treaty was entered into with the Central 
Powers which, on October 5th, culminated in a declaration of war 
upon the AUies. 

The Balkans region is inhabited by many races of fighting 
dispositions. The Bulgarians, Serbs, Rumanians, Turks and 
Greeks each have their own territories but these unfortunately 
do not always correspond to their nationalities. Each country 
contains v/ithin its boundaries large numbers of neighbouring 
peoples and from these sources rise bitternesses of which western 
peoples have no conception. 

From the year 1466 to 1875 the Turks controlled the Balkans 
largely by pitting one race against the others and keeping them 
weakened. As the Turks themselves became weak the Balkan 
nations began to assert themselves and one by one broke away, 
forming independent kingdom^s. Greece became independent in 
1829; Serbia practically so in 1830; Rumania in 1859, while 
Bulgaria revolted in 1876. The atrocities then committed by the 
Turks in crushing the rebellion led to the Russo-Turkish war of 
1877 and ultimately to the recent war. 

The Russo-Turkish war was settled in 1878 by the treaty 



228 Canada's Sons in the World War 

of Berlin, which left every racial question unsettled and has resulted 
in a continuous series of quarrels in which each of the Balkan 
peoples has sought the support of one or other of the great powers. 
Bulgaria has been constantly the centre of intrigues mth Austria 
and Russia, both of whom had the object of extending their own 
dominions towards Constantinople. 

'^ Ferdinand the Fox,'^ a man ambitious, ostentatious, most 
cunriing and a personal coward, during his long reign gradually 
created a powerful kingdom of Bulgaria, which, in 1908, was 
recognized to be independent by Turkey. Though the Balkan 
States were perfectly aware of Austro-German ambitions to extend 
their power eastward, each of them was exceedingly jealous of 
the other. Their one common tie was a hatred of Turkey and 
in 1912 they formed a secret agreement, declared war on Turkey 
and decisively defeated her. The Triple Alhance refused to ratify 
the agreement made by the Balkan States that Serbia should 
obtain an outlet to the Adriatic Sea, and Bulgaria refused to 
compromise by giving her an outlet to the -^gean Sea. As a con- 
sequence, in July, 1913, Greece and Serbia attacked Bulgaria. 
Turkey took the opportunity to regain Adrianople, and Ru- 
mania, which had in the first Balkan war remained neutral, entered 
the field. 

The Treaty of Bucharest was signed on August 10th after 
the surrender of Bulgaria. This left Bulgaria thoroughly dis- 
gruntled. She had suffered heavy losses in the war with Turkey 
in which she had been the leader and she had lost a fine port on 
the Black Sea. All the Balkan States in fact were seething with 
dissatisfaction, but Bulgaria particularly was in a condition where 
revenge would be sweet. When the war broke out in 1914 Greece, 
Serbia, Montenegro and Rimaania were all strongly sympathetic 
with Russia who had always been ready to back them, while 
Bulgaria, whose growth to power had been altogether through 
Russia's protection, was now ready to seek an alhance with the 
Central Powers. 

On October 3, 1915, an ultimatum was handed Bulgaria 
by Russia stating that unless Bulgaria sent away Austrian and 
German officers, ceased mobihzing her armies on the Serbian 
borders and openly broke with Russia's enemies, the Russian 
Minister had orders to leave Bulgaria with the staff of the Legation. 



Fighting on Many Fronts 231 

Similar ultimatums were delivered by Great Britain and 
France. Bulgaria issued a long manifesto to the nation stating 
her position, and written in typically insolent German style. 
In her reply to the AUies' ultimatum she stated that the presence 
of German officers in Bulgaria was Bulgarians concern only. 

Venizelos, the Greek Premier, seeing what was coming, had, 
on September 21st, asked the Alhes for 150,000 troops, and the 
AlUes agreeing, Greece began to mobiUze on September 24th with 
the enthusiastic backing of the Greek Chamber. King Constantine 
of Greece, a brother-in-law of Kaiser Wilhelm, refused to support 
M. Venizelos in his pohcy and forced his resignation, much to 
the indignation of the Greeks. The king, who had a considerable 
amount of support, won out and the landing of the AUies at 
Salonika in October strengthened the opposition to the Venizelos 
poHcy. The Greeks under the new premier, M. Zaimis, assumed 
an attitude of armed neutrahty. Seventy thousand French troops 
arrived at Salonika on October 3d, landing after a final protest 
of the Greek commandant, who did everything thereafter to 
facilitate the landing of the troops. In a short time the AlHes 
had 150,000 troops at Salonika. 

Events marched rapidly in the Balkans, and Serbia, with 
an army of 200,000 men, found herself attacked on three sides 
by 200,000 Austro-Germans and 250,000 Bulgarians. 

The diplomacy of the Alhes, as usual in any Balkan crisis, 
failed miserably. Refusing to take the advice of their own experts 
and their Alhes, who knew what was coming, they dalhed with 
the situation until matters had gone too far. Had they taken 
strong action early Bulgaria would never have gone in with the 
Central Powers and the co-operation of Greece and Pumania 
would probably have been secured. 

As it was the allied army landed at Salonika was too weak, 
Greece remained neutral at the crucial moment, and Serbia found 
herself without the help promised by the alhed powers. On 
September 19th Belgrade was bombarded and Mackensen's attempt 
to open up a road to Constantinople was in full sway. The Serbs 
fought with great valor but were hopelessly outnumbered. 

The Serbian army, fighting magnificently, fell back and on 
November 8th had almost effected a junction with the alhed 
forces advancing from Salonika, The advance of the alhed army 



232 Canada's Sons in the World War 

under General Sarrail had been successful until the first week in 
November when, finding themselves opposed by 125,000 Bulgarians 
in a dangerous position, they were forced to fall back. The junc- 
ture with the Serbians as a consequence failed and the Serbian 
retreat developed into a rout. 

On October 20th the Bulgarian and Austro-German armies 
formed a juncture in the Dobravado Mountains that enabled 
the Germans to announce that the road to the Orient through 
Austro-Hungary and Bulgaria had been opened. 

The sufferings of the Serbian people at that time were 
indescribable. Much of the civilian population retreated with the 
army; the roads were strewn with starving, exhausted men; 
disease and famine, in regions destitute of shelter and among people 
exposed to the cold, played their deadly role, and when the remnant 
of the Serbian people reached a haven they were broken, exhausted 
and diseased beyond description. 

Meanwhile a great political struggle was occmring in the 
Greek Chamber as to the position Greece should assume, and the 
Allies, fearing an attack from the rear, were compelled to adopt 
strong measures to keep Greece from becoming hostile. 



CHAPTER XVI 
Canadian Troops Prove Their Metal 

At the time of the second battle of Ypres the second Canadian 
division was crossing the Atlantic. Of the first contingent of 
33,000 men five battaUons, the Sixth, Ninth, Eleventh, Twelfth 
and Seventeenth had been left in England to act as the nucleus of 
a drafting and training division. 

In the first week of October, 1914, just after the first con-^ 
tingent had sailed for Europe, Canada had offered a Second division 
of 20,000 men which had been accepted by the Imperial Govern- 
ment. Recruiting for this had begun at once, each battalion being 
raised as a separate unit for the purposes of enlistment and training. 
Mobilization of the Fourth brigade was commenced in October, 1914. 
The regiments of the Fifth brigade began mobilizing at the end of 
October. This brigade was placed under the command of Brigadier- 
General Watson. 

The First division had started from Gaspe Harbour in Quebec 
as a single great convoy under the escort of an Atlantic squadron. 
The Second division left in single ships without any of the pictur- 
esque features associated with the first armada. Nothing unusual 
occm^red to any of the transports carrying the Second division and 
all arrived safely in England. The transportation, which began in 
April, was largely completed by May though the last troops arrived 
only in August. The Second division was actually constituted on 
May 24, 1915, under the command of Major-General Steele, C. B., 
M. V. 0. 

TRAINING THE SECOND CANADIAN DIVISION 

The Second division was fortunate in comparison with the First 
division in that it underwent its course of training during an English 
summer in the charming country about Shornecliffe. 

The contrast of these battalions tramping through the green 
Kentish lanes in summer under a pleasant summer sky with that 
of battalions of the first Canadians tramping over dreary; rain 

(233) 



234 Canada's Sons in the World War 

soaked downs or through roads many inches deep in mud, under 
skies which alternately shov/ered water, sleet and snow, and where 
high winds of the most biting character found one's very marrow, 
was very marked. 

The Second division after imdergoing its normal course of 
training was visited by His Majesty the King, accompanied by 
Lord Kitchener, on September 2, 1915. Like the review of the 
First division, that of the Second also took place before the British 
sovereign imder a grey and gloomy sky. On September 14, 1915, 
under the command of Major-General Turner, V.C., the Second 
division passed over to France. Major General Steele remained 
in command of the troops in the Shornecliffe area. 

The Second division crossed the narrow channel at Boulogne 
and shortly afterwards joined the First Canadian division at 
Ploegsteert Woods. 

One particularly interesting incident was the recognition by the 
French people of the Twenty-second battahon, which had been en- 
tirely recruited from the French-Canadians in Quebec. The French, 
who seemed to know Httle about French Canada, were astonished 
to learn that there were more than 2,000,000 French-Canadians in 
the Province of Quebec and repeatedly asked why they had not 
come over to fight in the cause of their old Mother Country. 
Explanations were too involved and difficult for one not over fluent 
in the French language. It was therefore a matter of rehef to 
Canadians and a satisfaction to the French people when more than 
a thousand soldiers speaking the same language as themselves 
landed on their shores. It was a curious rendezvous of peoples 
descended originally from the same stock, but who for centuries 
had had no communion with one another. 

The Canadian corps was immediately formed upon the arrival 
of the Second Canadian division imder the command of General 
Alderson who had formerly commanded the First division. The 
Fu'st division thereupon went to Major-General Currie w^hose 
brigade was taken over by Brigadier-General Lipsett. The Second 
Canadian division as we have seen was already in command of 
Major-General Turner and his brigade, the Third, was taken over 
by Brigadier-General Leckie. The Second division relieved the 
Twenty-eighth British division on the sector which stretched north- 
ward from the line occupied by the First Canadian division. 



Canadian Troops Prove Their Metal 235 

At this time the Anglo-French army made a great offensive. 
The greatest effort of the French took place in the Champagne, and 
the British made their most serious attempt in the \dcinity of Loos 
near La Bassee. 

When an offensive took place on any part of the hne it was 
essential for the rest of the troops to make a series of holding attacks 
for the purpose of keeping the enemy on the qui vive and preventing 
him from despatching reserves to the real point of danger. The 
first experience of the Second Canadian division was to take part in 
a gigantic bluff attack; on September 24th, the day after they had 
finally taken over their sector, the artillery opened up and cut great 
gaps in the enemy's 'wire as if to open a road for our attacking col- 
umns. Early in the morning sacks full of wet straw were set on 
fire so that the smoke formed was carried towards the enemy; at 
that moment, for the first time, real gas was being employed by the 
British near Lens and the Hohenzollem redoubt. At the same 
time the Canadian commanding officers issued orders, blew whistles 
and carried on all the movements to be expected before a real 
attack. As a result the Germans filled their front line trenches 
with troops ready to repel our attack at which opportune moment 
the Cs^nadian gunners hea^dly shelled the enemy trenches and 
caused a considerable number of casualties. 

Up to the end of October there is nothing of importance to 
record on the Canadian front. Most of the time was spent in 
perfecting and improving the trench systems. 

The Canadians developed a marked aptitude for scouting 
in No Man's Land and after a few preliminary encounters remained 
in almost imdisputed possession. This kind of work, however, was 
made dangerous by the enemy employing land mines and booby 
traps which would explode on touching a wire and blow the scouting 
soldier or raiding party to pieces. 

At the end of October the rainy season began and the labour 
of weeks in preparing trenches was in many places destroyed in a 
few hours by the unre vetted clay walls collapsing like jelly. Com- 
munication trenches became impassable, parapets fell in, trenches 
filled with water and life to the soldier in the trenches became 
miserable beyond conception. 

After some weeks, however, a drainage system for the trenches 
was devised, the bottoms of the trenches were covered with wooden 



236 Canada's Sons in the World War 

paths, perhaps two to three feet high in the worst places and the 
sides of the trenches were re-enforced with wire and wooden 
props. 

The section known as 'Tlug Street'' Woods seemed peculiarly 
familiar to men from Ontario for on first impression it reminded 
them of the old holiday grounds of Muskoka. It was possible to 
drive right into the Ploegsteert Woods by motor car and then, by 
walking up the hill through the woods, enter the Canadian trenches. 
In these woods nimaerous log houses had been built, resembhng 
those of campers in Muskoka, while rustic fences, gates and trelHs 
work completed the illusion that tliis was a section of one of Can- 
ada's simimer playgrounds. 

Winter in Flanders is a period of rain, mist and general dreari- 
ness for weeks and even months at a time. Great actions or large 
movements were impossible and yet it was necessary that the 
soldiers be kept keen and interested. It is true that the artillery 
could obtain practice whenever it chose by j&ring by the map on 
trenches or other objectives. Without aeroplane observation, 
however, which was often difficult or impossible in those months, 
the results of such fire were not remarkable. 

THE FIRST TRENCH RAID 

In November Brigadier-General Lipsett decided that the time 
had arrived for proving his befief that raiding parties, properly 
rehearsed, could enter the German lines, inflict large numbers 
of casualties and obtain much information without material loss 
to themselves. Accordingly a section of enemy trench to be oper- 
ated upon was carefully photographed and numerous reconnaisances 
were made until the exact details of the trench, the configuration of 
the land, the wire and other natural or artificial obstacles in front 
of the objective were accurately known. A detailed model of the 
enemy's trenches was then dug and the men who were to make the 
raid were rehearsed until they knew their task by heart. 

The first trench raid was made by two parties of the Fifth and 
Seventh battahons. One party entered the enemy trench, killed or 
took prisoners a large number of Germans and for twenty minutes 
carried on their work under enemy artillery and machine-gun fire. 
As the prisoners were passed back over the parapet they were taken 
charge of by scouts and led to the Canadian lines. When the time 



Canadian Troops Prove Their Metal 237 

was up and the raiding party had returned our own artillery dropped 
its fire from the German positions to the bombed section of trench, 
hoping to catch some of the re-enforcements which were sure to be 
despatched to that area. 

It was a most successful venture. A few Canadians of the 
Seventh battalion had attacked a section of German trench, killed 
fifty of the enemy, brought away twelve prisoners and destroyed 
parapets, dugouts and machine-gun emplacements, while after they 
had returned, the artillery opening up on all sides, completed the 
task and did as much damage as possible. One Canadian soldier 
had been killed and another wounded, while the morale and nerve 
of the enemy had been shaken. Equally successful sorties were 
carried out by the Eighth and Tenth battahons. 

This new feature of trench warfare proved so successful that 
an account of it was forwarded by Canadian headquarters to the 
British commander-in-chief. He in turn passed it on, not only 
to his army, but to the French army authorities, with the result 
that hundreds of trench raids were carried out during the winter. 
They served to keep our troops on edge and interested, while the 
total amount of damage done was very great. 

Sir Douglas Haig in his report of events during the winter of 
December, 1915, to May, 1916, said: 

One form of midnight activity deserves special mention, namely, the 
raids or cutting-out parties which are made at least two or three times a 
week against the enemy lines. They consist of a brief attack with some 
special object on a section of the opposing trenches usually carried out at 
night by small bodies of men. The character of these operations — the 
preparation of a road through and under the enemy's wire, the crossing 
of the open ground unseen, the penetration of the enemy's trenches, the 
hand-to-hand fighting in the darkness, and the uncertainty of the strength 
of the opposing forces — give peculiar scope to the gallantry. . . and 
quickness of decision of the troops engaged and much skill and daring are 
frequently displayed. 

In these trench raids the initiative was certainly with the 
British, the Canadians particularly seeming to be pecuHarly adapted 
to this type of Indian-hke warfare. Owing to the difficulty of using 
bayonets in the narrow trenches several new weapons were elabo- 
rated, such as the trench knife, and knob-kerrie, a ferocious instru- 
ment consisting of a knob on the end of a stick studded with knobs 
of steel. 



238 Canada's Sons in the World War 

FORMATION OF THE THIRD CANADIAN DIVISION 

To the Canadian with visions of blue cloudless skies, and crisp 
sparkling snow, the leaden atmosphere and lowering skies of their 
first Christmas day in Flanders was most depressing. 

The sodden fields, the shell-torn No Man's Land between the 
trenches, the mist laden air and the never-ending booming of the 
guns created an atmosphere of unreahty which made the Christmas 
of the home land seem far away. On Christmas da}^ the enemy 
made numerous efforts to fraternize Tsdth the Canadians but T^dthout 
success. There was practically no firing throughout the day and 
lugubrious German songs were wafted at intervals to our 
trenches. 

During the long months the men of the First division had seen 
the terrors of war multipUed by bombs, mine throwers, rifle gren- 
ades, gas, improved artillery and trench weapons. They had met 
each new trial vdth. fortitude and had proved that the Canadian 
volunteer was second to none in discipline, intelhgence and initia- 
tive : and possessed in a remarkable degree the dogged valour asso- 
ciated ^dth the Anglo-Saxon race. 

The Second Canadian di\dsion had also gone through three 
months of the monotony of the steady round of trench tours, 
fatigues, rest periods vdth. training, and the miseries of waterlogged 
trenches and bitter winds. 

A Third Canadian division was formed under the command 
of Major General Mercer, C.B., during January and February of 
1916. One infantry brigade was composed of battaUons which 
had been acting as Canadian corps troops and included the Princess 
Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry and the Royal Canadian regi- 
ment. 

The Second infantry brigade was made up of six Canadian 
mounted rifle regiments which had comprised part of the cavalry 
brigade. These two brigades of the Third division almost 
immediately began front line work. 

Nothing imusual occurred on the Canadian front until March 
27th when the Third British division on the bluff in front of St. 
Eloi sprang a series of seven enormous mines which shook the 
country for miles around like an earthquake. The German trenches 
were obhterated and the British advance was carried beyond the 
enoiTQous craters which had been formed well into the German 



Canadian Troops Prove Their Metal 239 

support lines. The salient which had formerly existed in the 
British front was thereby almost exactly reversed. 

The ground separating the great craters was a morass of 
mud pitted with shell holes filled with water. After its capture by 
the British every available enemy gun was turned upon the new 
600-yard front, and it was Hterally deluged \\dth shrapnel and high 
explosives. 

When the Second Canadian division relieved the exhausted 
Third Imperial division on April 4th they found only remnants of 
trenches Uttered wdth dead and woimded, whole sections having 
been completely blotted out. The area could be held only by 
patrols and bombing posts until new trenches could be constructed. 
This task working parties of the Fifth Canadian brigade endeavoured 
to carry out while the men of the Sixth brigade lying out in the 
mud, drenched with rain, continuously bombed by Germans from 
vantage points and harassed by artillery and machine-gun fire 
were making a show of resistance. But it v/as only a show, for 
rifles and machine guns were jammed with mud and bombs could 
not be brought up through the heavy German barrage in sufiicient 
quantities. After a sixty-hour bombardment, while an attempt 
was being made to reheve the Canadian outposts, machine gunners 
and fragments of battaHons, the German artillery suddenly 
redoubled its furious cannonade. Under the terrific fire the 
reheving troops caught in the open blundered bhndly in the darkness 
and mist through broken trenches and shell holes; many men 
disappeared in the mud or water-filled shell holes and were drowned, 
while all communication was lost between the relief parties and their 
supports. Headquarters, not knoT\ing where these units were, 
because all telephone connection had been cut, could give no pro- 
tective artillery support and indescribable chaos reigned over that 
tortured strip of territory. 

Then the Germans, advancing, swept away any lingering 
resistance and seized two of the craters, while later on it is supposed 
they succeeded in taking the two adjacent craters and linking them 
up with one of their old supports lines. 

Of subsequent operations reports are conflicting and incomplete; 
conditions were so chaotic that no connected story of events can 
be written. Groups of Canadians holding advanced positions were 
annihilated, runner after runner was killed and their urgent mes- 



240 Canada's Sons in the World War 

sages remained undelivered; the very contour of the ground altered 
as shells levelled mounds and created new hollows. No movement 
was possible by daylight, and in the blackness of night sense of 
direction was absolutely lost. Yet somehow the position was not 
lost, reUefs were somehow carried out, counter-attacks were still 
made and ground was even retaken. The ^^ Battle of the Craters" 
will hve as one of the greatest feats of endurance and stubborn 
tenacity in the history of Canadian arms, being only rivalled per- 
haps by the battle of Passchendaele. 

For five endless days and nights the struggle was carried on 
by men who were beaten by every rule of warfare. Yet the stupid 
German mind did not, as on many other occasions, seem to reaHze 
that he had accomphshed his purpose and had only to develop his 
advantage to achieve a genuine victory of perhaps far-reaching 
effects. As in the second battle of Ypres it demonstrated the fact 
that the abihty of the individual British soldier to fight his own 
battles when concerted action was no longer possible, paralyzed 
methods based upon the formula that soldiers are machines to be 
led or driven but incapable of individual initiative. 

On April 19th after a hurricane artillery fire our garrisons were 
blown out of craters six and seven and the surrounding outposts. 
The Germans had become the masters of the craters but finding 
them untenable abandoned them, and the sepulchre of many 
hundreds of brave Canadians became a deserted land which spring 
gradually transformed into green fields dotted with mid flowers. 

BATTLE OF HOOGE AND SANCTUARY WOOD 

The battle area then moved northward to the vicinity of Hooge. 
On June 1, 1916, the Third Canadian division occupied a sector in 
the Ypres sahent a few miles south of that field of Langemark and 
St. JuHen rendered immortal to Canadians by the deathless struggle 
of the First Canadian divisions. The First Canadian division 
occupied the line to the right of the Third division while the Second 
division v/as still on its old ground at St. Eloi farther south. 

The third divisional left front line was held by the Royal 
Canadian regiment while the P. P. C. L. I.^s, First and Fourth 
Canadian mounted rifles occupied the front line from Sanctuary 
Wood to Mount Sorrel. Back of these were their supports and 
reserves holding Zouave Wood and Observatory Ridge. 



Canadian Troops Prove Their Metal 241 

On June 2d the Germans made a terrific attack on the trenches 
at Hooge and the north end of Sanctuary Wood, bombarding the 
whole front, support and communication trenches. For five 
hours they kept up the most intense fire after which they launched 
their attack supported by flame projectors. Major-General 
Mercer commanding the Third division and Brigadier-General 
WiUiams were making an inspection of the trenches at the time and 
were caught in the deluge of shells. General Mercer ordered all 
the artillery in his command to retahate but the vnies having already 
been cut the message had to be carried by two pairs of runners. A 
shell exploding close by seriously wounded Brigadier-General 
Williams and stunned General Mercer and both were carried into 
the ''tube trench" for shelter. Hour after hour the bombardment 
of the C. M. R. brigade continued and their trenches were blown 
in one by one while the few unwounded or unburied hugged shell 
holes until the bombardment should lift. General Mercer tried to 
get back to his headquarters through the heavy barrage but was 
shot and had his leg broken when near Armagh Wood. 

The enemy had broken through on a front of several thousand 
yards to a depth of over two miles. The situation was extremely 
critical and demanded immediate counteraction. Several counter- 
attacks were made that night mthout avail and the attacking 
parties were withdrawn. The German bombardment which had 
been put forward several hours on account of the presence of the 
Canadian generals in the trenches was of unprecedented intensity, 
over a milHon shells having been put over on the Canadian front 
in five hours. 

General Mercer was killed by a British shell that night and 
Brigadier-General Wilhams was captiu-ed. In General Mercer the 
corps lost a fine officer and a gallant gentleman. Notliing could 
live in that ghastly deluge as is evidenced by the fact that one 
battahon, the Fourth Canadian mounted rifles, entered the fight 
670 strong and came out less than sixty strong; four motor lorries 
carried all that was left of the battalion back to rest billets. 

In the quieter days that followed information gained by 
patrol observation enabled the Canadian conmianders to plan a 
successful assault. 

On July 8th an attack was made by the First division on 
Mount Sorrell to re-establish our line there. The wire was not 



242 Canada's Sons in the World War 

sufficiently cut and the attack failed. After a complete artillery- 
preparation against the German lines for several days and a final 
intense bombardment in the early morning of July 13th, the 
infantry attack began and proceeded like clock work. Advancing 
irresistibly the Canadians swept away the German resistance and 
completely restored the Mount Sorrel-Observatory Hidge position. 
Heavy punishment was inflicted upon the enemy and several hun- 
dreds of prisoners were captured. The First Canadian division 
had made the Huns pay dearly for their temporary success over the 
Third Canadian division and the enemy counter-attack failed to 
dislodge the Canadians who had come to stay. 

ALL SINGLE MEN CALLED TO THE COLOUBS IN BRITAIN 

In October, 1915, the rate of recruiting had fallen dangerously 
low in Great Britain. There were in the country at least 2,000,000 
single men of mihtary age not enUsted. There were also many 
married men who were willing to join up when the unmarried had 
gone. 

Lord Derby drew up a scheme which enhsted men by groups. 
Men had to enhst and then could appeal to a local tribunal for 
exemption. The groups were called in order, the young unmarried 
men fii^st, and the married later. Enhstments began enthusiastically 
with the approval of the Trade Union leaders. 

When Lord Derby made his report it was found that a total 
of 3,000,000 had placed themselves at the disposal of the country 
from which the yield would be less than 900,000 men. Unless steps 
were taken to compel the enhstment of the large unattested balance 
of single men the yield would be only half that number. As the 
nation was now generally in favor of conscription, Mr. Asquith, in 
January, 1916, introduced the Military Service Bill into Parliament 
— a bill not extended to Ireland. The Home Secretary, Sir John 
Simon, resigned office to lead the feeble opposition to the bill, and 
his argument convinced the country of the necessity for it. Mr. 
Balfour, Mr. Bonar Law and General Seely supported the bill 
which carried its second reading by a majority of 392 and had only 
thirty-six opponents in its final reading, the Irish Nationalists 
abstaining from voting. 

The principle of voluntary enhstment so dear to the heart 
of the Englishman had gone by the board. England had at last 



Canadian Troops Prove Their Metal 243 

thrown away the scabbard and was fully determined to wield the 
sword until she had achieved victory or gone down to defeat. 

Before next midsunnner Great Britain had mobilized for direct 
and indirect purposes a larger proportion of her population than 
any belligerent country except France — a truly amazing per- 
formance. She had not only equipped the vast British army of 
5,000,000 men but supplied huge quantities of equipment to her 
Allies. She had improvised army, officers, munitions and equip- 
ment at a period when war had become a business of the most 
scientific and technical decription. 

Undoubtedly there was room for criticism at the time and 
Winston Churchill voiced the opinion of many at the front when he 
said that haK the army was in England and had never been under 
fire; that for every six men recruited only one rifle appeared in 
the firing line, and that of the half abroad only half fought. Later 
on the combing-out processes in England jdelded large numbers of 
men for service abroad. 

REACTIONS ON THE WESTERN FRONT 

In the early months of 1916 the British army in France was 
opposed by forty German divisions of excellent quality. The 
battle of Verdun soon began to suck in all the German strategic 
reserves and any enemy movement on the British front became 
impossible. No reinforcements were required by the French 
though the latter were relieved by the British taking over the 
additional area from Loos to a point south of Arras, thereby freeing 
the French tenth army for service elsewhere. 

The stagnation on the British front was most opportune in 
permitting of the training of the new British army officers and men. 
All formations, especially the newly created ones, were instructed in 
every phase of warfare. Schools for young staff officers, regimental 
officers and candidates for conomissions were in full swing, and every 
effort was made to perfect the training received in England. 

The stagnation on the front was not easy for either officers 
or men; in fact those months proved to be the hardest of the whole 
campaign. Each day the desultory w^arfare of bomb, sniper and 
shell took its toll of men — perhaps on the average of 500 a day. 
Day by day the ambulances drew up at the hospitals with their 
quota of wounded. 



244 Canada's Sons in the World War 

On the British western front there were numerous small battles. 
On February 12th after an artillery bombardment an infantry 
attack was made upon the British near the canal in the Ypres 
salient. On February 14th after heavy artillery bombardment our 
positions were attacked at Hooge and Sanctuary Woods without 
success. 

At the bluff further south a bombardment and infantry attacks 
won some of our trenches. Seventeen days later the Third British 
division won back all the lost ground and some of the German line. 
On March 27th six huge mines were exploded by the British near 
St. Eloi and the craters occupied by us. Weeks of confused fighting 
followed at this point which will be found described more fully in 
the battle of the Craters by the Canadians. 

On April 19th the Germans attacked at Wieltze and on the 
Ypres-Langemarck road, and two days later were ousted from the 
trenches captured by them. 

On April 27th two German gas attacks were made near Loos 
and the infantry attack following was completely shattered by 
Irish troops. Two days later the enemy attempted a similar attack 
at HuUuch but the gas blew back upon the Germans driving them 
from their trenches, whereat the British troops manned the parapets 
and laughed hilariously. On the same day a gas attack near Mes- 
sines was followed by eight infantry attacks. Sleeping six miles 
behind the scene of the attack on that occasion, I was wakened by 
clouds of gas in great concentration pouring into my room. The 
gas was strong enough to kill the roses and other foliage in the 
garden behind the house. 

On May 15th we blew some mines on Vimy Ridge and occupied 
the German front line only to be driven out by heavy artillery fire 
and infantry attacks on May 21st. 

These scattered actions came to a head at Hooge in the Ypres 
salient on June 2d. There, as stated, the Third Canadian divisional 
front line was obhterated and their position taken on a front of one 
and a half miles. The Canadians counter-attacked next day but 
could not hold the area regained. On June 13th the First Canadian 
division took back all the ground lost a few days before. 

Meanwhile the stupendous contest at Verdun had been going 
on drawing to it all the enemy reserves as von Falkenhayn and the 
Crown Prince strove desperately for the little town which would 



Canadian Troops Prove Their Metal 245 

spell victory for them. And meanwhile the British perfected their 
war machine and made preparations for that great offensive to be 
known as the battle of the Somme. 

THE GLORIOUS DEFENCE OF VERDUN 

In March, 1916, as I skirted the British and French fronts on 
the road to Paris I passed through numerous little white-washed 
French villages each with its quota of French soldiers in sky-blue 
uniform and service caps resting in billets. These sturdy soldiers 
sitting around in the spring sunshine or chatting in groups smoking 
cigarettes were always ready to make friends, and at a suggestion 
of a smile their faces would positively beam. Like the Highlanders 
of Scotland these Celts were the kindest of gentlemen behind the 
lines and veritable demons in battle. Along the roads we passed 
grey columns of transport, driving furiously through clouds of 
dust, carrying munitions, food and other necessaries to the French 
front hnes. Everybody seemed to be seK-possessed yet at|the time 
France was in the throes of a Hfe and death struggle. In Paris 
business went on as usual, the cafes were thronged at nights and 
those theatres that were open were packed with citizens. 

About sixty miles away huge masses of German artillery 
hammered the French lines at Verdun in a supreme effort to break 
through to Paris. The German Crown Prince, with the co-operation 
of von Falkenhayn, the chief of the German general staff, was 
making a great effort to retrieve a miHtary reputation long since 
sadly tarnished. The French wxre perfectly certain that the 
Germans would never break through for they had taken their 
measure accurately. 

''They shall not pass," {''lis ne passeront pas/^) was the 
expression of conviction in the mouths of every patriot — a con- 
viction that was to be fully reaUzed. 

Twenty miles from Verdun were the rich iron mines of the 
French Briey basin which supplied three-fourths of the steel 
required by Germany and Austria, and there was the dual object of 
making this district safe. 

The Kaiser had decided, in spite of the opposition of Von 
Hindenburg and Von Ludendorff (who promptly resigned), that 
the campaign designed to finally destroy the Russian army should 
be postponed. Accordingly Von Falkenhayn robbed every other 



246 Canada's Sons in the World War 

front of men and ammunition, gathered together artillery in quan- 
tities never before conceived of and began dehberately to blast his 
way through the French lines in the Verdun sahent. In all, 
Germany seemed to have brought one hundred and eighteen 
divisions or two and a half milhons of men to the Franco-British- 
Belgian front for the great offensive. 

On February 19th German guns began registering and two 
days later a thousand field guns began a general bombardment 
while heavy howitzers concentrating on small sectors completely 
obhterated them. In this way the enormous force of heavy 
artillery smashed the whole of the French front line section by 
section. When the area had been thoroughly pulverized with 
shells patrols of German infantry advanced apparently in the 
behef that no living thing could have escaped that withering blast. 
The German plan was to use vast quantities of shells to save their 
own infantry and destroy the French. But General Castehiau, 
the acting commander-in-chief, did not play up to the German plan 
but withdrew his men from the advance and support lines until 
only a thin covering remained. The result was that remarkably 
few French troops were exposed to the devastating tempest of 
shells and those were largely machine gunners hidden in dugouts 
at some distance from the photographed and registered positions 
being shelled. The famous French 75 's which the French gunners 
handled like Maxims had been carefully concealed. 

As these German patrols advanced they were cut down by 
the French machine guns and 75's. Bombing parties and sappers 
shared their fate and finally the green grey waves of infantry were 
caught and swept away. 

The fourteen German divisions that had forced their way to 
Douaumont Fort were increased to twenty-five divisions. In April 
five more divisions were thrown in. The wastage of life had been 
tremendous; the expenditure of shells exceeded the output of the 
German factories and the rifling of the great guns was wearing out 
yet the position was not won. 

All through the summer the German waves broke in vain 
against the twenty-five miles of Verdun fortifications while the 
marvellous French artillery and French machine guns continued to 
mow down the German regiments. General Joffre had refused the 
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Canadian Troops Prove Their Metal 249 

make a great counter-offensive on the British front and thereby 
relieve the pressure at Verdun. Instead of sending a telegram 
that would send a milhon British troops against the German lines 
and compel Von Falkenhayn to redistribute his troops, his guns 
and his shells, Joffre sent reassuring messages to Sir Douglas Haig 
assuring him that all was going well. 

In the autumn the French under General Nivelle suddenly 
struck back and directed a series of attacks against the German 
forces on both sides of the Meuse. On October 24th a final grand 
attack resulted in the recapture of Fort Douaumont followed on 
November 2d by the recapture of Fort Vaux, ending the most 
glorious effort in the magnificent mihtary history of France. 

In this long and bloody conflict German arms suffered a dis- 
astrous defeat with the loss of thousands of men, and though she 
inflicted severe casualties on France she failed in her effort to 
bleed France white. Thereafter the great burden of the war in 
the west and the larger share of the casualties was to be shouldered 
by Great Britain whose armies had now become a mighty force. 

AUSTRIAN ATTACK IN TRENTINO 

In the spring of 1916 the Archduke Charles, heir to the Austrian 
throne, had gathered an army of a milhon men in the Trentino of 
which 400,000 were combatants. Large numbers of batteries 
had also been collected for the attack which was designed to take the 
plain of Venetia, through which ran the two main railway communi- 
cation lines to the Isonzo. 

On May 14th the attack opened with a bombardment of more 
than 2,000 guns on a thirty-mile front; it Hterally blasted away the 
ItaHan front lines. On May 20th after severe fighting Cadorna 
slowly fell back while his reserve army of half a million men was 
assembhng at Vicenzo. Week after week desperate fighting had 
been going on, but the enemy was held, and on June 3d General 
Cadorna announced that the Austrian offensive had been checked. 

The Austrian attack in the Trentino had deferred for the 
time Italy ^s main offensive. It had cost the Itahans many men 
but it awakened Italy to the fact that she was at war. A new 
cabinet was formed under Signor Boselh while all Italy felt proud 
that her army had been able to hold the Austrians and would 
presently drive them back. 



CHAPTER XVII 
The Battle of Jutland. 

That great American writer on the value of Sea Power — Cap- 
tain Mahan — established the thesis that in war the nation pos- 
sessing the greater sea power is likely to win. 

Without further preliminary it may be claimed that the 
British fleet proved the insuperable obstacle to Germany's plan 
of world domination. Steadily and irresistibly it closed up the 
German streams of supply of food, raw materials, metals and other 
essentials upon which German life depended, and made it possible 
for the Allies to achieve the fxual victory. 

Before a blow had been struck the British navy had assured 
to the Allies the following vital results : 

1. The High Seas Fleet of Germany, costing her $1,500,000,000, 
had been driven into its strongly fortified ports. 

2. Five million five hundred thousand tons of German ship- 
ping and 1,000,000 tons of Austrian shipping were driven off the 
high seas, or captured. 

3. The oversea trade of Germany and Austria had been 
strangled. 

4. The German oversea empire had been torn from them. 

5. Two million enemy subjects of military age abroad were 
prevented from joining the enemy. 

6. Ocean communication with the markets of the world were 
closed to the enemy and kept open to the Allies. 

Anticipating a little, it may be said that the allied cause 
could be carried on only through the protection afforded by the 
British fleet. Every man, every gun, every shell, every pound of 
supplies shipped to the fields of France, Belgium, Italy and other 
fronts, was possible because the British navy held the seas. The 
transportation of millions of soldiers to France and other theatres 
of war; the carrying of hundreds of thousands of enthusiastic 
volunteers from the British colonies to Europe; the feeding of the 
millions of allied soldiers in Europe, and the prevention of famine 

(250) 



The Battle of Jutland 251 

among their civilian populations; the purchase and delivery of 
enormous quantities of munitions, raw materials, machinery and 
equipment from America and other neutral countries, were rendered 
possible by the fact that the British Grand Fleet, steaming in the 
troubled waters of the North Sea, and the lesser fleets in many 
other seas, watched the great ocean highways and rendered the 
enemy impotent. 

And to anticipate further, it made possible, when the United 
States threw her weight into the scales with the AlUes, the trans- 
portation of 2,000,000 American soldiers to France, sixty per cent 
of which were actually carried in British transports. 

With a superior navy, Germany could have blockaded Eng- 
land, brought her to terms quickly, and France, left to fight alone, 
would have proved a comparatively easy victim. Germany well 
knew the necessity of a powerful fleet and had, for fourteen years, 
laboured to create one that would approximate that of Great 
Britain. 

Von Tirpitz, the German naval minister, had, with the aid 
of Emperor William, been able to enthuse the German nation 
with the ambition to become a mighty sea power and conquer the 
hated British. The achievement of Von Tkpitz was a marvellous 
performance, for in fourteen years he was actually able to evolve 
a navy more than sixty per cent (on paper) as powerful as the 
whole of that of Great Britain, but, actually, as events proved, 
much superior to Great Britain's fleet in mechanical firing devices, 
armour protection and armour-piercing type of shell. 

The strength of the German High Sea Fleet and the British 
Grand Fleet at the beginning of the war may be seen by the follow- 
ing comparison taken from Admiral Viscount JelHcoe's book, 
^^The Great Fleet." 

British German 

Grand Fleet. High Sea Fleet. 

Battleships 28 29 

Battle cruisers 4 3 

Light cruisers 12 15 

Destroyers 42 88 

The result of rivalry had been to stimulate the building of 
ships and greatly enhance the training and spirit of the men, as 
well as the equipment of the British fleet. In 1914 the British 
navy had reached a point of efficiency hitherto unprecedented. 



252 Canada's Sons in the World War 

The grand fleet, whose object was to attack and destroy the 
German High Seas Fleet, cruised solely in the North Sea. It 
consisted of one battle cruiser squadron, four battle squadrons, 
three cruiser squadrons, two destroyer flotillas and mine-laying 
gunboats. There were also two destroyer flotillas based on Har- 
wich, under Commodore Tyrwhitt, which it was hoped might, 
in the event of a general engagement, join the grand fleet. This 
combination of the Harwich force with the grand fleet never 
occurred during the war. 

Outside of home waters Britain also maintained fleets in the 
Mediterranean, in Eastern and Chinese waters, and in AustraUan, 
while numerous cruisers and gunboats patrolled the Cape, West 
Africa and the Western Atlantic. 

The combination of the French and British fleet was im- 
mediately responsible for the seahng up of the Austrian fleet in 
the Adriatic, and enabled the Allies to carry on in the Mediter- 
ranean without interruption. 

The German fleet was unable to issue from the Baltic by the 
regular passage which was closed by Denmark. Neither could the 
British enter the Baltic for the same reason. The German fleet 
could, however, pass to and fro at will from the North Sea to 
the Baltic through the Kiel Canal, which had been completed a 
few weeks only before the war. 

The plan of the German admiral was to avoid open battle 
imtil, through submarines and mines, the British power had been 
sufficiently weakened. The British hope was that the German 
fleet would risk a great battle, but in this, until 1916, they were 
to be bitterly disappointed. 

The old type of sea fighting had long ago disappeared. Steel 
had replaced wood; high explosives had replaced sohd shot; 
engines had replaced sails; fighting occurred at long range, instead 
of grappling at close range, with all the excitement of boarding 
one another. And everything else had changed since the British 
fleet had last been engaged in a great battle. Overhead were 
ZeppeHns, seaplanes, and aeroplanes, prepared to scout, direct 
fire and drop bombs, while underseas submarines lurked ready 
to sink with a single torpedo the finest battleship afloat, and 
mines were anchored which at a touch would blow a great ship 
out of the water. 



The Battle of Jutland 253 

A modern navy had become essentially an organization of 
engineering skill, operated by engineers and scientists of the high- 
est grade. To pick out a moving object as large as a pin point ten 
miles off and moving at a speed of perhaps twenty-five or thirty miles 
an horn', and drop a projectile containing many hundreds of pounds 
of high explosive upon that object requked a skill, a knowledge 
of mathematics and a poise that could only be obtained by long 
years of training and experience. Such were the requirements 
of the modern naval fighting man in the fleet commanded by 
Sir John Jellicoe. 

In this nev/ act of naval science which did not require that 
peculiar seamanship for which England had been so long famous, 
it was feared that Germans, with none of the real old-time sailor 
quahfications would prove the match of the British; and not 
until the great battle of Jutland was this question finally settled. 

With the exception of a few vessels, the Germans ceased to 
exist on the high seas. During the first week of the vv^ar the Ger- 
man warships Goeben and Breslau were in the Mediterranean 
off the Algerian coast. Attempting to escape into the Atlantic 
they were turned back by the British fleet oE Gibraltar, and made 
off eastward, passing through the Dardanelles to Constantinople. 
Everywhere else in the empire German merchantmen were seized, 
and hundreds of ships were captm-ed on the high seas. 

For nearly two years the British Grand Fleet had been waiting 
for the German High Sea Fleet to come out and give battle. In 
the battle of the Bight, on August 28, 1914, the British fleet had 
encountered cniisers only. In the raid on Hartlepool in December, 
Sir David Beatty, on account of fog, just failed to intercept the 
enemy ships, and m the battle of the Doggerbank, on January 24, 
1915, an accident to his ship, necessitating his transfer to a 
destroyer, prevented him from destroying the fleet of enemy battle 
cruisers. On every occasion in which they had been sighted the 
German warships had turned and fled. 

Month after month the various squadrons of the Grand Fleet 
had rehearsed their parts. Special gun practice had taken place 
at sea and special torpedo boat manoeuvres worked out with the 
object of repelling torpedo attacks. 

Part of the routine of the Grand Fleet consisted in periodic 
sweeps of the North Sea by the Battle Cruiser Fleet under Sir 



254 Canada's Sons in the World War 

David Beatty. The battle cruisers were especially suited for such 
work, for, in addition to being very large and lightly armoured, they 
were exceedingly fast and were equipped with the longest range 
guns. In case of hostile ships being sighted the great speed of the 
battle cruisers enabled them to keep the enemy under observation 
and at the same time to shell them at long range. 

On May 30, 1916, the British Grand Fleet, in two divisions, 
left its northern bases on one of its customary sweeps. On the 
north was the battle fleet under Sir John JelUcoe. AYith the battle 
fleet was one battle cruiser squadron, three cruiser squadrons, and 
three destroyer flotillas. 

The battle fleet under Sir John Jelhcoe was in six divisions, 
disposed as follows: 

First Division — King George V (F), Ajax, Centurion, Erin. 
Second Division — Orion (F), Monarch, Conqueror, Thunderer, 
Third Division — Iron Duke (FF), Royal Oak, Superb (F), Canada. 
Fourth Division — Benhow (F), Bellerophon, Temeraire, Vanguard. 
Fifth Division — Colossus (F), Collingwood, Neptune, St. Vincent. 
Sixth Division — Marlborough (F), Revenge, Hercules, Agincourt. 
F— Flagship; FF— Fleet Flagship. 

They were screened by the Fourth, Eleventh and Twelfth 
Flotillas with the Fourth Light Cruiser Squadj-on three miles ahead 
of the battle fleet. 

The cruisers with one destroyer to each cruiser steamed sixteen 
miles ahead of the battle fleet, the cruisers being eight miles apart 
in the following order from east to west : 

First Line: Cochrane, Shannon, Minotaur, Defence, Duke of 
Edinburgh, Black Prince. 

Warrior (in the immediate rear). 

Hampshire (six miles astern) . 

To the south under Sir David Beatty steamed the battle cruiser 
fleet consisting of tv/o battle cruiser squadrons, a battle squadron, 
four vessels of the Queen Ehzabeth class, three hght cruiser squad- 
rons and four destrover flotillas. The two divisions of the Grand 
Fleet were not sharply defined as battle squadrons and battle 
cruiser squadrons, since Sir John JeUicoe had with him one squadron 
of battle cruisers, while Sir David Beatty had a squadron of the 
largest battleships. 

On the same day that the British Grand Fleet put to sea the 



The Battle of Jutland 255 

German High Sea Fleet also left its harbours and sailed northward. 
For some time it had been confidently predicted in Great Britain, 
though without any definite information on which to base the 
prediction, that the German navy would be forced to come out 
and fight. Whether the German fleet had been driven forth by 
public opinion or hoped to catch part of the British fleet and destroy 
it through overwhelming numbers, or whether it had the greater 
object of escorting cruisers which were to become raiders after 
dashing into the Atlantic we have, as yet, no knowledge. 

About midday Sir David Beatty's fleet turned northward 
to join that of Sir John JelHcoe,when, at 2.30, the Galatea,t\\e flagship 
of the First Light Cruiser Squadron, reported enemy vessels to the 
east. 

Sir David Beatty at once changed his course to southeast, in 
order to separate the enemy from his base. At 2.35 observers on 
the Lion saw heavy smoke to the east and northeast. 

The First and Third Light Cruiser Squadrons then spread in a 
screen before the battle cruisers, while a seaplane sent up from the 
mother ship Engadine (Campania) identified and reported the 
presence of the enemy. Five minutes later, in battle formation, 
Sir David Beatty came in sight of the German Admiral von Hipper^s 
five battle cruisers. 

Sir David Beatty had previously missed by a slender margin 
the opportunity of destroying the finest of the German ships. He 
now chose the course which was not only heroic but strategically 
sound. Though he possessed the advantage for the moment the 
enemy was clearly falling back upon the main fleet so that shortly 
the odds would be reversed. Nevertheless he took the chance. 

At this time the German admiral was steering east-southeast 
in the direction of his base and Beatty took the same course some 
23,000 yards distant. The fleet of Sir David was led by the Second 
Light Cruiser Squadron with two destroyer flotillas; then followed 
the First Battle Cruiser Squadron led by the admiraFs flagship 
Liorij the Second Battle Cruiser Squadron, and then the Fifth Battle 
Squadron. 

At a range of 18,500 yards the battle opened, the fleets pro- 
ceeding at a speed of twenty-five knots. Almost immediately a 
shot struck the Indefatigable and she blew up. At 4.18 a German 
battle cruiser was set on fire and shortly after the Queen Mary was 



256 Canada's Sons in the World War 

also hit, and blew up. This left Sir David Beatty only four battle 
cruisers. 

Meanwhile, as the great fighting machines tore southward at 
racing speed, eight destroyers of the Thirteenth Flotilla had moved 
forw^ard to make a torpedo attack. They met fifteen destroyers 
and a cruiser of the enemy engaged on the same mission and drove 
them back. Two German destroyers and one British destroyer were 
sunk and one British destroyer put out of action. 

The Second Light Cruiser Squadron, which all the time had 
been scouting ahead of the battle cruisers, reported the proximity 
of the German Battle Fleet at 4.38. Immediately Admiral Beatty 
turned northward in an effort to lead the whole German fleet toward 
Sir John JeUicoe. Since Zeppelins were useless for observation 
purposes that day the presence of Sir John Jelhcoe^s fleet was 
unknown to Admiral von Hipper and he piu-sued Beatty evidently 
thinking he had caught him alone. 

Beatty was now fighting against heavy odds for he had only 
eight first-class ships against nineteen German and Sir John JeUicoe 
was still fifty miles off. But he had the speed of the enemy — a 
vital factor. Beatty had succeeded in getting his battle cruisers 
on the bow of the enemy, who could not change his direction without 
exposing himself to enfilading fire from the British battle cruisers 
at the head of the line. 

At this time the weather changed for the worse. The enemy 
was shrouded in mist while the British ships were silhouetted against 
a clear sky. Notwithstanding, the British gunnery was effective 
and a German battle cruiser was compelled to fall out of line. 
Beatty hauled his course gradually to the northeast in order that 
Sir John JeUicoe, who was then not far off, would be able to strike 
to the best advantage. At 5.56 he sighted the British Battle Fleet, 
at once changed his course to the east and increased his speed, 
forcing the enemy to a course on which with a fair amount of luck 
he could be overwhelmed by the British fleet. 

When Sir John JeUicoe knew that the enemy had been sighted 
he at once proceeded at fuU speed to join battle with him, several 
of his ships exceeding their trials speeds. The battle fleet was led 
by Rear-Admiral Hood's Third Battle Cruiser Squadron. At 6.10 
p. M. Hood sighted Beatty's squadron and brought his own squad- 
ron into action at a range of 8,000 yards. In a few minutes his 



The Battle of Jutland 257 

flagship, Invincible^ blew up at the head of the British Une and with 
her perished the heroic admiral. 

The First and Second Cruiser Squadrons had now come into 
action and had sunk one enemy cruiser. The destroyer Shark which 
had accounted for two enemy destroyers was herself torpedoed and 
sunk. 

Su' Robert Arbuthnot, in command of the First Cruiser Squad- 
ron, owing to the mist, got between the British and German battle 
fleets and lost the Defence and Black Prince while the Warrior was 
disabled. This gallant admiral signalled a cheerful apology to his 
fleet as he went down. 

Meanwhile one of Beatty's destroyers, the Onslow, attacked 
first an enemy cruiser, then their battle cruisers. After being 
struck by a heavy shell she discharged three torpedoes at the 
enemy battle fleet and was then taken in tow by Defender, w^ho was 
herself damaged. Sir David Beatty wrote: '^I consider the per- 
formances of these two destroyers to be gallant in the extreme and 
I am recommending Lieutenant-Commander J. C. Tovey of Onslow, 
and Lieutenant-Commander L. R. Palmer of Defender for special 
recognition." 

At 6.16 a signal was made to the battle fleet to form line of 
battle on the port-wing colunrn on a course southeast by east. 

The question and manner of deplo^Tnent was of vital impor- 
tance. To form on the starboard-wing column would bring the 
fleet into action at the earhest possible moment. Sir John Jelhcoe 
decided that such an action possessed the obvious disadvantage 
that the German destroyers would be ahead of their battle fleet and 
in the mist would have a great opportunity for torpedo attacks 
during deployment. There was also great danger of the First 
Battle Squadron, especially the Marlborough division, being severely 
handled by the concentrated fire of the German fleet before the 
remaining divisions could get into fine. The First Battle Squadron 
contained some of the older Hghtly armoured ships. It would 
require four minutes for each division to come into line and a further 
interval for their gun fire to become effective. Finally the van of the 
enemy would have a considerable overlap on the British. 

At the moment of deployment the van of the enemy^s battle 
fleet was 13,000 yards away. The fleets were converging rapidly 
and the High Seas Fleet would have possessed a great advantage in 

15 



258 Canada's Sons in the World War 

engaging effectively, first the unsupported starboard division, and 
subsequently succeeding divisions as they formed up astern, had 
the hne of battle formed on the starboard-wing column. 

At 6.50 Sir David Beatty had turned the German leading 
vessels to the southeast. In order were the First, Second and 
Third Battle Cruiser Squadrons, followed by the Second, Fourth 
and First Battle Squadrons. On account of the weather the single 
line formation was adopted because operation by independent 
division was impossible. The Fifth Battle Squadron had formed 
astern of the hne and Warspitej having had her steering gear dam- 
aged, ran around in a circle firing at every enemy in sight, Tvliile 
she herself came under a furious bombardment which, curiously 
enough, did her httle harm. The enemy, novf outnumbered, had, 
by the skillful strategy of the British admirals, been separated from 
their base and it only needed a Httle luck and some daylight to give 
the British fleet the opportunity for which it had long prayed, of 
blowing the entire German fleet out of the water. 

The Germain Admiral von Scheer, however, had no desire to 
take any further chances and steamed southward at full speed. 
Unfortunately the mist greatly reduced the visibility and made 
accurate firing exceedingly difiicult, though what light there was 
favoured the British. The German battleships had become targets 
for the British battle cruisers and w^henever the hght permitted 
great shells were plumped into them with amazing accuracy. 

At 7.14 tw^o German battle cruisers and two battleships v/ere 
sighted and one w^as set on fire. Under cover of a smoke screen 
from German destroyers they turned away and were again lost to 
sight. 

At 8.30 three enem^y battleships were again sighted of w^hich all 
three were set on fire and again lost in the mist. 

At 6.17 the British Battle Fleet had become engaged with 
enemy battleships which were now concentrating their attention 
upon escaping. In the short time in which they were visible the 
enemy battleships were heavily hit by the British while the German 
fire was feeble. Though the weather was particularly favourable 
for torpedo attacks the Germans succeeded in making only one hit — 
on the Marlborough, which however remiained in action. 

The First, Second and Fourth Battle Squadrons had also 
been engaged with the enemy and had made wonderful practise on 



The Battle of Jutland 259 

enemy battleships. The cruiser squadron had also been hard at it, 
attacking destroyers and making torpedo attacks; four enemy 
destroyers were sunk in these actions. 

At nine o'clock darkness was falling rapidly and the enemy had 
completely disappeared. It was impossible for the British fleet to 
force an action in a sea swarming with torpedo boats and imder- 
water craft. Sir John Jellicoe knew that the German star shells 
and searchhghts were greatly superior to his own — so good, in 
fact, that their star shells brilUantly illuminated our vessels while 
theks remained in darkness — and that he would only be courting 
disaster by attempting to force the issue under the circumstances. 
Accordingly he made the necessary dispositions for the night, placing 
the torpedo flotillas where they would protect the fleet from 
destroyer attacks, and manoeuvring his fleet so as to keep between 
the enemy and the enemy's base. 

During the night the battle was carried on exclusively by the 
lighter craft. With Sir David Beatty were the First and Third 
Light Cruiser Squadrons, which protected the head of the British 
line from torpedo attack and also the First, Ninth, Tenth and 
Thii^teenth Destroyer Flotillas. 

The Second Light Cruiser Squadron and the First and 
Thirteenth Destroyer Flotillas were at the rear of the battle line 
with the Fifth Battle Squadron. During the night the enemy began 
shpping past under cover of darkness and numerous isolated engage- 
ments took place. The Second Light Cruiser Squadron repelled 
a torpedo attack on the Queen EHzabeths of the Fifth Battle Squad- 
ron. The Southampton and Dublin became engaged Vvith five enemy 
cruisers. At 11.30 several heavy ships sHpped through the British 
line in the fog. Another battleship steamed by at full speed and 
was apparently torpedoed. At 12.30 another large vessel passing 
astern of the Fifth Battle Squadron opened fire on British vessels. 

The principal torpedo attacks were made by the Fourth, 
Eleventh and TweKth Destroyer Flotillas which were with Sir John 
Jellicoe. The Twelfth Flotilla attacked a squadron of six large 
vessels of the Kaiser class, one of which was blown up and another 
hit. The Fourth Flotilla had the heaviest fighting and lost one 
destroyer. This wonderful class of fighting ship won great glory. 
In the words of Sir John Jellicoe '^They surpassed the very highest 
expectations that I had formed of them." It was a marvellous 



260 Canada's Sons in the World War 

performance for those who saw the battle. German flares and 
searchlights at times made the placid sea as light as day; the heavy 
crashes of salvos and exploding shells deafened the ear and their 
angry red flashes lit up the sky for miles. 

When dawn appeared there was no enemy fleet in sight. It 
had slipped through the British Hnes or scattered and the German 
warships, like a broken flight of wild geese, were steaming full speed 
for the safety of their harbours. At 4 a. m. a Zeppelin passed over 
and probably warned the enemy of the location of the British fleet. 
The visibility was less than four miles and Sir John Jellicoe waited 
for the enemy to reappear out of the mist and attack. 'At 11 a. m. 
he was reluctantly forced to the conclusion that the High Sea Fleet 
had gone home. Accordingly the British Grand Fleet, after picking 
up any survivors that could be found, returned to its bases, where it 
arrived next morning, fueled and replenished its stores of ammuni- 
tion and was ready for action again at 9.30 that night. 

What constitutes a victory? The Germans immediately 
claimed a great victory, stating in support of their claim the greater 
tonnage and number of vessels sunk of the British fleet, and it must 
be admitted the claim appeared valid. | But if the British navy 
had been defeated why did it still continue to sweep the North Sea 
while the German High Sea Fleet remained at home in its defended 
harbours? 

The British Fleet was the one and only factor that was vital to 
the British Empire. It was true, as Admiral JeUicoe stated, that 
the British fleet was deficient in destroyers and Hght cruisers; 
her shells were inferior to the German's which exploded after they 
had pierced the armour plate instead of upon impact as the British 
shells did; the German gun laying devices and searchHghts were 
superior to the British; the enemy vessels were far better protected 
by armour than v/ere the British, and the Germans had the advan- 
tage of Zeppelins for observation purposes. 

As a result of the use of armour piercing-shells fine vessels Hke 
Queen Mary and Indefatigable when hit in a vital spot blew up and 
disappeared in a few seconds, while German vessels struck much 
more frequently survived and were able to wing their way home- 
ward. As a matter of fact all the German battle cmisers and several 
of their battleships were so severely battered as to be incapable of 
further fighting for several months^ No mention was made ui the 



The Battle of Jutland 261 

German official report issued of the loss of the battle cruiser Lutzoio, 
the light cruiser Rostock, the beaching of the Seydlitz or of the fact 
that four battleships had been torpedoed though not sunk. The 
Germans, also, in order to estabhsh their victory, claimed to have 
sunk one battleship, one armoured cruiser, three light cruisers and 
five destroyers more than were actually destroyed. The following 
is a corrected list of the losses incurred by both sides ; 

GERMAN LOSSES 

Tens 

1 Dreadnought. . 24,000 

1 Deutschland 13,200 

1 Battle cruiser Luizow 28,000 

5 Light cruisers (Rostock class) 24,500 

6 Destroyers 4,800 

1 Submarine 800 

Total 95,300 

{Seydlitz, 24,610 tons, beached) 

BRITISH LOSSES 

Tons 

Queen Mary — battle cruiser 27,000 

Indefatigable " " 18,750 

Invincible " '' 17,250 

Defence — armoured cruiser 14,600 

Black Prince " " 13,550 

Warnor " " 13,550 

Tipperary — destroyer 1,430 

Ardent " 935 

Fortune " 935 

Shark " 935 

Sparrowhawk " 935 

Nestor " 1,000 

Nomad " 1,000 

Turbulent " , 1,430 

Total 113,300 

Wilhelmshaven was closed to the world and for many months 
it was guarded with jealous care while the battered German fleet 
was undergoing its much-needed repairs. Even Captain Persius, 
the most reputable German naval critic, wrote: ^^On June 1st 
it was clear to every thinking person that this battle must and 
would be the last one." 



262 ^ Canada's Sons in the World War 

Captain Persius also said, that the hope that the German 
fleet would be able in a second battle to beat the British depended 
upon the bluff and Ues of the naval authorities. In the battle of 
Jutland he declared that the German fleet escaped destruction 
partly by good leadership and partly by favovuable weather con- 
ditions. Had the weather been clear or Admiral Von Scheer's 
leadership less able the destruction of the v/hole German navy would 
have resulted. The long-range British gmis would have completely 
smashed the Ughter armom-ed German ships. As it was the loss 
of the German fleet was enormous. 

It is interesting to note in conclusion that Captain Persius 
approved of the navy refusing to go out to fight towards the end of 
the war, as it would have been a waste of hfe without hope of success. 

It was surely a weird victory which compelled the victors to 
remain till the end of the war within the shelter of Helgoland wliile 
the so-called ^'vanquished" fleet continued to patrol and control 
the high seas more surely and powerfuUj^ than ever before. 

The damage received by the vessels of the British fleet was 
quickly made good and the majority of the small number affected 
v/ere completed within a month. Even the Marlborough wliich had 
been torpedoed and sustained the greatest amount of damage 
rejoined the fleet in August. 

The passive or defensive role of the German fleet of remaining 
in its harbours continued without inteimission, with the result that 
the morale of the men declined, and a series of mutinies broke out in 
1917 and 1918 which culminated in the final great mutiny of 
November, 1918. 

Admiral Jellicoe has been freely criticized for his action in 
turning to the left (deploying on the port-wing column) instead of to 
the right as the British Battle Squadron came within effective range. 
Admiral JeUicoe stated that had he turned to the right the awkward 
manoeuvre would have thrown the British Battle Fleet into great 
confusion, and an enemy concentration of fire on the turning point 
would have been very effective upon our ships. 

At the same time the British Battle Fleet would have been 
in a position where it would be open to attack by destroyers during 
the turning movement. None of these disadvantages occurred by 
turning to the left. 

It is Dossible that the decision of Admiral JelUcoe saved the 



The Battle of Jutland 263 

German fleet from absolute destruction. On the other hand, 
beheving that an mvasion of England was always possible during 
the war and that it was essential to preserve the strength of the 
fleet to prevent that invasion, he felt the necessity of avoiding battle 
till he could attack with less risk. The few minutes necessary for 
deployment might have given the enemy the opportunit}^ cf sinking 
a large number of our capital ships and Jellicoe preferred to risk 
his ovvn reputation rather than the safety of the British Empire. 

The battle of Jutland was the most im^portant event to the 
Allies of the whole war. On land it is usually possible to make good 
the losses which have been mcurred; it may even be possible to 
convert a defeat into a victory thi'ough skilled strategy. But in a 
naval battle the losses cannot be made good for years, and a decisive 
and overwhelming defeat means the complete destruction of the 
beaten fleet. It is apparent that had the British Fleet been wiped 
out or badly crippled at the battle of Jutland, Great Britain would 
have been open to invasion, her hnes of communication would have 
been cut through loss of control of the Channel, her reserves of men 
would have been isolated m England, the British army in France 
would have been deprived of food and munitions. Great Britain and 
the allied nations would have been separated from theii' storehouses 
of food in America and the war would have rapidly comxC to a con- 
clusion through a general surrender to Germany. Admiral Jellicoe 
may be open to criticism but it is safe to say that the historian in 
future years will rank his action in playing safe as the w^ork of a 
great man and will thank God that that type of man happened to be 
in command of the British Fleet at the thne, 

DEATH OF LORD KITCHENER 

On June oth Lord Kitchener arrived at Scapa en route to 
Archangel. He dined with Admiral Jellicoe aboard the flagship 
Iron Duke and Hstened with much interest to the story of the 
recent battle off Jutland. The weather which had been bad gi-ad- 
ually became worse and after some consultation it was decided 
that the Hampshire should pass northward close inshore rather 
than by the route fiu-ther to the west. The route decided upon, it 
was thought would enable destroyers to keep up "^dth the Hampshire 
better than in the rougher open sea and besides there would be less 
probability of the route being mined. Mine sweeping had been out 



264 Canada's Sons in the World War 

of the question for three or four days. Earl Kitchener, accompanied 
by his staff, Brigadier-General EUishaw, Sir F. Donaldson, Colonel 
Fitzgerald, Mr. O'Beirne of the Foreign Office, Mr. Robertson of 
the Munitions Department, and Second Lieutenant McPherson of 
the Cameron Highlanders, went aboard the Hampshire at 4 o'clock 
and sailed at 5.30 p. m. accompanied by two destroyers. The 
orders were for the Hampshire to proceed at a speed of at least 
sixteen knots and to send the destroyers back if they could not 
maintain the Hampshire's speed. 

At 7 p. M. the destroyers were ordered back because they were 
unable to face the heavy seas. Between 7.30 and 7.45 the Hampshire 
struck a mine about one and a half miles off shore between the 
Brough of Bersay and Marwick Head and sank in fifteen minutes. 
The accident was seen from the shore and a telephone message to 
the vice-admiral commanding the Orkney Islands brought patrol 
vessels to the spot, while Admiral Jellicoe sent destroyers to the 
scene. All night long the waters were searched and many dead 
bodies were picked up or drifted ashore. The only survivors were 
twelve men who floated ashore on a raft. The body of Lord 
Kitchener was not recovered. Though orders had been given by 
Captain Saville to prepare a boat for Lord Kitchener and his staff 
it was impossible to lower any boats in such a sea. When last seen 
Earl Kitchener of Khartoum, Field-Marshal of the British Army, 
was on deck quietly talking to a companion. 

Any doubt as to whether the loss of the Hamsphire was due 
to a mine or submarine was set at rest by mine sweepers, which 
discovered other moored mines in the neighbourhood of the type 
laid down by enemy submarines. 

The news brought mourning to the whole empire, and all classes 
and condition of people were affected by a real grief. He was 
beyond doubt the most dominant personaHty in the empire at 
the time; his popular prestige was immense and he had an air of 
mystery which made him something of an unreal character to the 
public. His strong face, his wonderful eyes, his silence, his fine 
presence raised him to a place where he had become almost a figure 
of romance. To the French people he was a magnificent, god-like 
genius — the great Kitchener, the austere and silent soldier, the 
woman-hater, a man of granite and steel who could accomplish 
anything. 



w ; s 




*" 



The Battle of Jutland 267 

Behind him lay many proud achievements. The conquest 
of the Sudan, a wonderfully successful administration of the 
Egyptian protectorate, the completion of the South African cam- 
paign and, above all, the organization of the British Empire for 
thevgreat war, are mighty achievements which will mak« him Hve for 
all time. 

TRIBUTES TO THE GREAT SOLDIER 

The popular impression of Lord Kitchener is that he was a 
strong, stem man, hard and unbending. But those who knew him 
well do not confirm that impression. 

General Sir William Robertson, British Chief of Imperial 
General Staff, said: 

'^It is universally admitted that, if we eventually win this 
war, as we may hope to do, the chief credit will be due to Lord 
Kitchener, for he alone, so far as I am aware, grasped from the 
first the magnitude of the task in front of us. The rapidity and 
efficiency with which he caused the new armies to be raised, equipped 
and put into the field were httle short of marvellous. . 

'^The stern, ruthless, overbearing character commonly attri- 
buted to him had little foundation in fact, so far as my knowledge of 
the man goes. ... I have never been brought into contact 
with one who was more easy to serve. He was a tower of strength 
when times were bad . . . and those who . . . got 
behind his naturally shy and forbidding exterior, knew him to be a 
kind and considerate gentleman, thoroughly honest in word and 
deed ..." 

General Joffre said: ''Right from the outbreak of hostilities, 
with a vision one must now recognize as prophetic of the necessities 
of the struggle in which his country was engaged he evolved the 
scheme of the new mihtary organization that had to be set on foot; 
with his tenacious will, undaunted by difficulties of organization, 
instruction, or equipment, he carried through the plan he had set 
himself to accomplish. Less than a year after the opening of the 
campaign, divisions of Kitchener's army were measuring forces with 
the enemy overseas. . 

''It was under the flag of France that this great Englishman 
first bore arms. It is for the common glory of France and Great 
Britain that he has fallen, a soldier. His death has struck me as 



268 Canada's Sons in the World War 

that of a personal friend and of one of the best friends of my 
country/' 

Count Cadorna, chief of the Italian army, wrote: ''Even in 
his appearance he seemed to give a wonderful reproduction of the 
national character of our Alhes beyond the Channel : that combina- 
tion of cahn serenity and unshakable will which they contribute to 
the great common enterprise. He communicated an impression of 
controlled strength; one divined that he was inspired by a limitless 
energy, that no difficulty could stay him until he had reached the 
goal. . . . The quahty which I most appreciated in the late Field- 
Marshal was the sureness of his judgment. Lord Kitchener gave 
an unforgetable proof of this quality when, on the outbreak of the 
war, he showed so clear a vision of the nature of the struggle and of 
the part in it which England had to play. ' ' 



CHAPTER XVIII 
The Canadian Corps in the Great Somme Offensive 

The Somme River winds through the chalk lands of Picardy 
in a broad valley. The rolling level land of Picardy without a 
hedge is dotted with httle farming communities and httle towns? 
The district is known as SanteiTe — perhaps from so/rig terre — the 
land of blood — for it is one of the old bloody cockpits of Europe. 

There had been httle activity on the Picardy front until the 
summer of 1916. It was a region where only a great continuous 
offensive could achieve anything. The British had taken over the 
hne from xlrras to the Somme in 1915, and had spent a quiet winter 
in the trenches — a winter which the Germans had devoted to con- 
verting their lines into fortresses ahnost impregnable. 

The Germans had attempted to hold the western front with 
the minimum number of men and to destroy the Russian armies 
in the East. In that they failed and the Russian army was still 
in fighting trim. The Allies were now well supplied with guns and 
munitions on the western front, their higher commands were co- 
operating more closely and showed a tendency to concentrate all 
of their activities in the main theatre of action. To offset the 
coming aUied offensive on all fronts Germany attacked at Verdun 
hoping to induce the Allies into premature counter-attacks and 
dissipate their energies. Retain conserved his man-power at 
Verdun, and Verdun, instead of bleeding France white, as had been 
the intention, became a trap where Germany was bleeding white. 

The Austrian attack in the Trentino had failed, and in the 
east Russia had put half a miUion Austrians out of action. Con- 
sequently Germany had to despatch divisions from the western 
front and was now concerned to find sufficient troops to meet the 
expected alhed offensive. The German commander did not have 
sufficient nerve to fall back and shorten his line, as the situation 
demanded, because of the moral effect on The Fatherland. 

The aim of the AlUes in the great Somme offensive was not 
to capture territory or seize any given positions. Their purpose 

(269) 



270 Canada's Sons in the World War 

was to exert a steady pressure on a wide section of the German 
front. The alhed method was to break up the German front by 
stages after hea^^ artillery bombardments. Then when a suf- 
ficient space had been opened up it would be widened and deepened 
by renewed bombardments and attacks with fresh infantry divisions. 
The main object of the aUied attack was primarily to bring into 
action, weaken and destroy the Gennan army. Its subsidiaiy 
objects were to weaken the pressure on the French at Verdun and 
prevent the transference of German troops to the eastern front for 
use against Brussilov. 

The British armies had now grown from the six divisions 
composing the original Expeditionary Force to seventy divisions 
in the field, besides those from the British Colonies. In addition 
there were enough troops in reserve to supply the wastage for a 
year. The auxihary services excelled those of any other com- 
batant and our gunnery had so improved that we could lay down 
a barrage along any line wliich could compete with the best. At 
the second battle of Ypres the Canadians had fired 1,000 shells 
from a single gun in twentj^'-foiu' hours, a record that was fre- 
quently reached and showed a remarkable adaptation of civilians 
to a most scientific and difficult profession. 

Each original gun had now been replaced by hundreds of 
all caUbres, while trench mortars of a fine new type had been 
produced in huge numbers. Vast quantities of mimitions were 
being turned out daily in Great Britain and transported to France. 

The old Contemptibles had now entirely disappeared and 
their place taken by a civilian army composed of Territorials, the 
new army of Kitchener and the various colonial contingents. 

The preparations for the great Somme offensive were most 
elaborate and comprehensive. The roads had to be improved and 
new ones built, frequently over marshy ground. Scores of miles 
of railways had to be built. Himdreds of dugouts had to be dug 
as shelter for troops, dressing stations and magazines for storing 
munitions, food, water and engineering material. Miles of deep 
communication trenches, as well as trenches for telephone wires, 
assembling and assault trenches had to be dug. 

To meet the difficulties of supplying water, which was scarce 
in that region, many wells and borings were sunk and over one 
hundred pumping plants installed. One hundred and twenty miles 



The Great Somme Offensive 271 

of water mains were laid and everything prepared to extend those 
mains as the troops advanced. 

The front to be attacked by the British running from the 
south of Gommecom-t to the junction with the French at Mari- 
court was under the command of General Sir Henry Rawlinson 
with five army corps. 

The front, which the French Sixth army of three corps under 
General Fayolle was to attack, stretched from Maricourt to Fay. 

In the middle of June on the whole British front of ninety 
miles an intermittent bombardment of the German lines began. 
Raids on the German trenches were numerous; in the week before 
the attack seventy trench raids were undertaken between Gomme- 
court and Ypres for the purpose of identifying enemy units and 
obtaining other information. In the same week gas was discharged 
by the British at forty different places. 

On June 24th the bombardment increased along the whole front 
and enemy trenches were wiped out at Fricourt, Ypres and elsewhere. 

The artillery fire was intensified in the Somme area; and 
from Mt. Rouge, where I listened to it at nights, it sounded as if 
several thunderstorms in the south were battling for mastery. 
The crashes of thousands of guns merging into huge peals of thunder 
rolled continuously through the night air while the whole sky 
flickered red with the mjn-iad flashes of the explosions. 

Everybody on the front was on the qui vive with a curious 
exhilaration, for the long-looked-for giant offensive was at hand. 

On July 1st every gun on a front of twenty-five miles fired 
without cessation, while the enemy slopes heaved and spouted 
from the tornado of bursting shells. At 7.30 a lull in the guns 
indicated that the range had been lengthened. The bombardment 
became a barrage, under cover of which along a twenty-five-mile 
front the alHed soldiers had gone over the parapet and were plod- 
ding forward toward the German first position. 

The enemy had expected an attack on the front from Arras 
to Albert and was fully prepared for it. In general terms, though 
the British forces won through at many places in the northern 
sector, there were many other places where they were held up. 
In consequence those units which had penetrated the enemy lines, 
in some cases as much as 2,000 yards, were compelled to fall back 
and resume their old positions. 



272 Canada's Sons in the World War 

In the south the British attack succeeded brilliantly, v/hile 
for eight miles south of the junction with the British, the French 
advanced with hghtning speed. The Allies had succeeded in 
completely captiu-ing the first German position from Mametz to 
Fay on a front of fourteen miles, and in taking 6,000 prisoners. 

The second stage of the battle began on July 14th with an attack 
which drove the enemy from Trones Wood, captured Eazentmie- 
petit and Wood, High Wood and Delville Wood; vvhile farther 
south the village of Ovillers was taken. These results were of 
considerable importance. The enemy's second main system of 
defence had been captured on a three-mile front, he had been forced 
back a mile and we had gained possession of the southern crest of 
the main ridge on a front of 6,000 yards. 

On July 18th the enemy counter-attacked on Dehdlle Wood 
and recaptured part of it. This marked the beginning of a struggle 
which was not decided in our favoiu" until the 3d of September 
when we captured Guillemont. 

During all this period there were numerous local attacks in 
which our lines were pushed steadily forward and many important 
positions captured. Thus the ridge above Martinpuich and Pozieres 
windmill was reached, — positions w^hich gave us observation over 
Martinpuich and Courcelette, and the enemy gun positions around 
Le Sars. The fierceness of the fighting in these attacks may be 
gathered from the fact that one regiment of the German Guards 
Reserve Corps, opposite Moquet Farm, lost 1,400 men in fifteen days. 

THE TANKS APPEAR 

On September 12th a heavy, methodical bombardment of the 
enemy lines began, v/hich culminated in a general allied infantry 
attack on September 15th. It was in this attack that the new 
heavily armoured cars, knoT\Ti as /^ tanks," were brought into 
action for the first time, successfully co-operating with the infantry 
and giving valuable help in breaking down enemy resistance. The 
advance met with immediate success. At 8.40 a. m. tanks w^ere 
seen waddling into Flers followed by large numbers of troops. 
Martinpuich and Courcelette both fell — the latter into the hands 
of the Canadians. The general result of this new attack was a 
greater gain than had occurred in the course of a single operation 
since the offensive started. In one day we had broken through 



The Great Somme Offensive 273 

two cf the enemy's main defensive systems, had advanced on a 
front of over six miles to an average depth of a mile and captured 
4,0C0 prisoners. 

Tanks made of lath and plaster were left on the skyline during 
this offensive and succeeded in drawing a furious artillery fire. 

THE FOURTH DIVISION IN THE TRENCHES 

In the second week in August, 1916, the Fourth Canadian divi- 
sion arrived at Havre from whence it entrained to the Ypres 
salient. After the usual week of instructional work the division 
took over the line being vacated by another Canadian division 
which was about to proceed to the Somme. The Fourth division 
broke into trench warfare on September 16th-17th by carrying 
out an elaborate raid in which seven large parties took part with 
complete success. 

On September 21st the Fourth division left the peace and quiet 
of the salient and proceeded to a training area. On October 3d 
the division entrained for the Somme and in due course arrived at 
the Brickfields at Albert in the Somme area, going into the line on 
October 12th. 

Since July 1st the battle of the Somme had been proceeding 
with varying success. The offensive begun by the British on a 
twenty-five-mile front had broken through on only an eight-mile 
front and this sector the British had been pounding wider and 
deeper with a bull-dog tenacity that was designed to break the 
heart of the enemy. 

The Somme offensive, as has been seen, consisted in reality of 
a tremendous series of battles in which the hundreds of thousands 
of soldiers involved were aided by staggering quantities of guns, 
mortars and mine throwers. England was at last a first-class 
military pow^er and intended to show that she could smash the 
German lines w^hen provided with the requisite materials. In the 
south the FreDch were close to Peronne while the British steadily 
forged their way ahead to Bapaume. 

The methods of offensive were simple. Several days before 
the proposed date of launching any attack the batteries, side by 
side and firing in the open, proceeded to pound the German front. 
Trenches v/ere flattened out, wonderful fortresses of concrete and 
steel shattered and barbed wire entanglements cut to pieces. 



274 Canada's Sons in the World War 

Ever since the Canadian corps had arrived on the Somme in 
early September they had composed part of the huge battering- 
ram which hammered away continuously at the enemy defences. 
In general the progress made by the Canadians by bitter fighting 
had been slow until the brilHant capture of Courcelette, on Sep- 
tember 15th, by the Second Canadian division. 

Much of the work of the First Canadian division consisted 
in making numerous subsidiary attacks, including unsuccessful 
ones on Kenora and Regina trenches. These attacks, though not 
always successful, enabled greater offensives going on at the same 
time at other parts of the Hne to achieve their objectives; they 
invariably meant the hardest kind of fighting and heavy casualties. 

THE SECOND DIVISION IN THE BATTLE OF COUECELETTE 

The Second Canadian division, which it will be remembered 
played such a magnificent part in the desperate struggle for the 
craters at St. Eloi, played a prominent role on the Somme. 

The battle at Courcelette is to the Second division what Ypres 
was to the First division. It was a magnificent and brilliant offensive. 

On September 15th a thousand guns opened up in the final 
great bombardment. As the Canadians left their trenches and 
plodded slowly behind the barrage that churned the ground in 
front of them, the enemy machine guns and coimter-barrage raked 
huge gaps in their ranks, but the men of the attacking brigades 
advanced as steadily as though on parade. Preceded by 'Hanks " — 
their first appearance on the front — the village and its defences 
were taken and the position consoHdated. The tanks did good 
work in enfilading trenches, routing out machine-gun nests and 
inspuing fear in the heart of the enemy. The German counter- 
attacks all failed to retake the position and their losses were very 
heavy. 

Next day the division attempted to extend its frontage and 
capture additional German trenches and redoubts which were 
necessary to hold the newly won position. 

In this attack the Fifth brigade, which had been so successful 
the day before, was decimated and two battalions were saved from 
destruction only by the intervention of the Fourth battalion. 

This division later on made an unsuccessful attack on the 
Kenora and Regina Trench systems with heavy losses. 



The Great Somme Oflfensive 275 

An attack by the Third division on Sunken Road Trench and 
the Fabrik Graben was successful in achieving its object. This 
division was also concerned with one of the unsuccessful attacks 
on the redoutable Regina Trench. In this fierce struggle the Forty- 
ninth battahon, the P. P. C. L. I.'s and the R. C. R/s lost 
heavily, the Royal Canadian Regiment mustering at the close of the 
engagement only eighty-one rifles, while the Forty-ninth had lost 
fifty per cent of its effectives. 

On September 25th a further general attack was launched on 
the whole front between Martinpuich and the Somme. In this 
advance Morval and Les Boeufs were taken, while the French to 
the south carried the village of Rancourt and Fregicourt. Combles 
thus surrounded was entered by both the British and French at 
the same time on September 26th. Gueudecourt was taken the 
same day. 

On the same date, September 26th, a general attack was 
launched against Thiepval and the Thiepval Ridge. The objectives 
included the fortress knowoi as the Zollem Redoubt, the Stuff 
Redoubt and the Schwaben Redoubt. This attack was a brilliant 
success, some 2,300 prisoners being added to the total by this 
operation in which the Second Canadian brigade of the First 
division played a notable part. 

The Zollem Redoubt at Moquet Farm was the key to the 
entire chain of redoubts extending from Courcelette to Thiepval. 
Every device known to mihtary science had been lavished by the 
enemy on that work, and much bloody fighting, extending over 
several weeks, had failed to dislodge the Hun. The Zollem Redoubt 
was in turn protected by the Stuff Redoubt and Hessian Trench 
systems. After an intensive bombardment of several hours the Cana- 
dians attacked at the same time the British were timed to attack 
Thiepval. A desperate hand-to-hand struggle then ensued in which 
cold steel came into play, and the Zollem Redoubt and Hessian 
Trench both remained firmly in Canadian hands. 

On October 7th the offensive was renewed and various points 
along the front were attacked and captured, including Le Sars. 

THE FOURTH DIVISION TAKES KEGINA TRENCH. 

On October 21st the Fourth Canadian division made an 
attack on the Stuff and Regina Trenches which up to that time had 



276 Canada's Sons in the World War 

defied all the efforts of the Canadians to take. Two-thirds of the 
trench attacked was quickly taken and consolidated with small 
losses to the Canadians. The other third of Regina Trench was 
subsequently unsuccessfully attacked four days later, but on No- 
vember 10th the offensive was resumed, and at four o'clock next 
morning the last of this famous trench, which had cost hundreds of 
Canadian lives to capture, remained firmly in the hands of the 
Fourth division. 

Desire Trench, another hard proposition, was also captured 
and consolidated by the Fourth division, bringing to a brilliant close 
the Canadian operations on the Somme. 

Thus the Fourth, like each of the other Canadian divisions, 
when its turn came made good, and established the right to take 
its place alongside the other w^ar-battered divisions from Canada. 

No brief outline such as has been here attempted can pretend 
to give any conception of the magnificent courage and heroism 
displayed by Canadian troops. Fighting over ground torn with 
shells, wrecked and broken trenches and entangled barbed wire; 
in mud and filth; amid a continuous hail of rifie and machine gun 
bullets and showers of shrapnel, each engagement exacted its heavy 
toll of dead and wounded. Only when some master of language 
takes up the theme, and with brain aflame with the heroic grandeur 
of their deeds, will justice be done to the glorious achievements of 
our Canadian boys during their '^ blood baths of the Somme," 
in which 22,000 casualties were sustained. 

FINAL STAGE 

On the 9th of November the long spell of bad weather took a 
turn for the better. On November 13th our troops attacked from 
the east of the Schwaben Redoubt to the north of Serre. In the 
St. Pierre Division area 1,400 prisoners were taken by one division 
at a loss of 600 casualties and all of the objectives south of the 
Ancre River v/ere easily attained. To the north of the river the 
resistance v/as stronger. On the second day Beaucourt was taken 
and our front steadily carried forward up the slopes of the Beau- 
mont Hamel spur. By this operation we had secured the command 
of the Ancre Valley on both sides of the river where it entered the 
enemy lines. 

This brought the battle of the Sonrnie to a close. The main 



The Great Somme Offensive 277 

objects of the offensive had been attained. Verdun had been 
relieved; the main German forces had been held on the western 
front, and the enemy's strength had been very considerably worn 
do-^Ti. The battle of the Somme, carried out largely under the 
direction of Sir Henry Rawhnson, brought us a long step fon^^ard 
towards the final victory of the alued cause. Four-fifths of the 
total number of enemy divisions engaged on the v/estern front, 
constituting half of the v/hole German army, were throvvn one after 
another into the Somme battle, some of them tYvdee and some three 
times. Towards the end, when the weather made further attacks 
impossible, the German power of resistance had very seriously 
diminished. 

The total number of prisoners taken by us in the great Somme 
offensive amounted to 38,000 including 800 officers. We also 
captured 29 heavy guns, 96 field guns and field howitzers, 136 
trench mortars and 514 machine guns. And this was accomplished 
by troops who had been raised and trained during the war, many 
of them gaining their first experience of war in this offensive. 

There never was a higher test of the endurance and resolution 
of British infantry and it upheld the highest traditions of the British 
race. The defences assaulted were more formidable than many of 
the most famous fortresses in history; without the thorough prepara- 
tion by efficient artillery work they would have remained impreg- 
nable. It is, therefore, a remarkable tribute to the adaptability 
of the British soldier that, in spite of the shortness of training period, 
the junior officers and men attained a high degree of tactical skill. 

THE WAR ON THE EASTERN FRONT 

In May, 1916, Cadorna was being hard pressed by the Austrians, 
the battle of Verdun was in full swing and the army of Great 
Britain Vv'as almost ready for the great Somme offensive. Russia 
was also ready for the combined alfied offensive which was to test 
the power of the Austro-German armies to the breaking point. It 
became clear, however, that Italy might be pressed beyond her 
limit of resistance and it was, therefore, decided to advance the 
date of the Russian attack in order to relieve the strain upon her. 

At the beginning of June the total enemy strength from Pripet 
southward was under a milhon men, with a total of 600,000 rifles. 
The Russian southern army opposite the Austrian force was com- 



278 Canada's Sons in the World War 

manded by Brussilov, who had proved to be a wonderful general. 
Under him on the SOO-mile front from Pripet to Rumania were 
four armies with which he designed to attack the Austrian line where 
he had discovered it to be weak. 

On June 3d Brussilov began a slow methodical wire-cutting 
bombardment of the whole front. Twelve hours later the Russians 
passed through the lanes which had been cut and entered the 
Austrian trenches on a thirty-mile front between Lutsk and Rovno. 
Lutsk was taken with great booty, and the Styr and Ikva Rivers 
crossed. The flanks were then broadened out so that by June 13th 
a huge semicircle some seventy-five miles across the base had been 
hollowed out of the Austrian front. 

RUSSIA DEFEATS AUSTRIA 

By June 16th General Brussilov's armies had advanced fifty 
miles, captured Dubno and Lutsk and reached the Gafician frontier. 
He had taken 70,000 prisoners, 53 guns, and huge quantities of war 
materials. Hindenburg did his best to send troops to the aid of 
the Austrian army for their coimter-attack which opened on June 
16th. The counter-attack by von Linsenger was designed to stay 
Brussilov' s triumphant advance and create a pause in which the 
rest of the Austrian front could be reorganized. He succeeded 
only in postponing the Russian advance for a fortnight. 

On June 4th the Russian General Lechitsky also broke through 
the Austrian fine at Okna and in nine days captured 757 ofiScers, 
38,000 other ranks and 49 guns. By June 23d he had overrun a 
whole province, taking 4,000 officers, 194,000 men, 219 guns and 
644 machine guns. It constituted one of the most rapid and spec- 
tacular advances in the annals of warfare. It was the first time 
that the Russians had been on anything Hke terms of equality in 
regard to artillery and munitions. The marvellous Russian infantry 
under the masterly skill of Brussilov had won a victory that would, 
with fair luck, win a strategic decision. 

As a result of the June offensive the Russians had driven two 
great wedges into Volhynia and Bukowina. The Russian front 
had now to be straightened out and when the German counter- 
attack on the Stokhod in the second half of June died away, Brussilov 
began his attack. On July 4th the offensive began and succeeded 
beyond all expectations so that the Austrian retreat became a rout. 



The Great Somme Offensive 279 

In four days an advance of twenty-five miles on a front of forty 
miles was made, and 12,000 prisoners, 45 guns and much military 
material had been taken. The enemy resistance then hardened 
along the marshy Stokhod River and a determined effort was made 
to prevent any further advance towards the important centre of 
Kovel about twenty miles away. Brussilov thereupon announced 
his intentions "with regard to the capture of Kovel and made plans 
for an attack elsewhere. 

The enemy was now about to make a powerful attack against 
the southern side of the Lutsk sahent which he hoped would drive 
Brussilov^s armies from Volhynia. The German attack for which 
twenty divisions were being concentrated was staged for July 18th 
but Brussilov, getting information of the exact time, launched his 
attack three days before. Again the Russians were victorious and 
12,600 men and 30 guns were added to the Russian bag. Four 
days later another 12,000 Austrian prisoners were gathered in, 
while on July 28th still another 14,000 were captured, together with 
the city of Brody. 

The Russian army kept on advancing, and along the Hne 
stretching from the Dniester to the Carpathians the Austrian 
position collapsed with the loss of many thousands of prisoners. 
As a consequence of all these defeats the Austro-German army was 
compelled to retreat to a new line. In ten weeks the Russian drive 
had compelled the enemy to lengthen his front by a hundred miles. 
The Russians had also taken 300,000 prisoners, while the enemy 
dead and wounded probably amounted to half a miUion. 

During this offensive the Germans made desperate efforts 
to re-enforce the crumbling army of their ally and combed the 
western front for re-enf oreements, while at least seven divisions were 
attracted from the ItaUan front where the counter-offensive of 
Cadoma was in progress. As a consequence of this disaster practi- 
cally all of the chief Austrian commanders were replaced by Germans 
and the organization of the Central Powers was tested to the limit 
to save the situation. Von Hindenburg was placed in supreme 
command of all the German and Austrian armies on the eastern 
front, and desperate efforts were made to restore the morale of tl>e 
Austrian troops. 

The Russian army, on the other hand, had become a wonder- 
ful modem weapon capable of handling the machine-like army of 



280 Canada's Sons in the World War 

its antagonist. The Russian Chief of Staff Alexeiev, the General 
Officer Commanding Brussilov and the four army conmianders 
had all sho^wn military qualities of extraordinarily high character, 
and their brain-work was as much responsible for the Russia^n 
success as the marvellous fighting ability of the Russian soldier. 

RUMANIA ENTERS THE WAR 

For two years Rumania had managed to steer the middle 
course of neutrality, though pressure had been brought to bear 
upon her to cast in her lot with Germany. Rumania consists of 
two rich provinces, Moldavia on the east and Wallachia on the 
west, Vvdth Transylvania projecting into them. 

The Rumanian King, Carolus, of German blood and at one 
time a German army officer, had natiu^ally been in favour of the 
Central Powers, but the feeling of his country was against them. 
He died in October, 1914, and was succeeded by his nephew, 
Ferdinand, who had married a grand-daughter of Queen Victoria. 
King Ferdinand considered his country's interests impartially, and 
his wife was openly pro-ally. 

In October, 1914, the Rumanian prime minister had evidently 
received from Russia an offer of Transylvania in return for her 
neutrality. In January, 1915, when Russia advanced into Austria 
it looked as though Rumania would enter the war on the allied 
side. Her reserves were called up and Great Britaia lent her 
$5,000,000 but she needed munitions and there was no possibility 
of getting them except from Russia, which was also short. The 
Dardanelles venture failed, Russia retreated and Rumania again 
marked time until a more favourable opportunity should arise. 
Both Britain and Austro-Germany were sold cereals during this 
period by Rumania in her endeavour to keep clear of trouble. 

On June 4, 1916, the Russians again began their advance, 
and on July 1st France and Great Britain commenced the great 
Somme offensive. Rumania's opportunity again seemed to be 
approaching; Austria was depleted of men by the Russian offensive 
and tliree Bulgarian armies were held by Sarrail at Salonika. By 
the middle of July the preliminaries had been settled with the 
Alhes and munitions had begun to arrive from Russia. On August 
27th Rumania declared war on Austria, Italy declared war on 
Germany, and next day Germany declared war on Rumania. 



The Great Somme Olfensive 281 

The entrance of Rumania added an army of half a million 
men to the AUies. But Germany had calculated on Rumanians 
entrance and was prepared for it. Germany counted on making an 
attack on the new ally that would compel Russia and the Vv'estern 
Allies to send help to her and thus disorganize their offensives 
elsewhere. Rumania, instead of digging in and assuming the 
defensive role until the situation had improved for her cut loose 
and made a rapid advance into Transylvania. That provided the 
opportunity Germany was looking for, and after a remarkably 
brief campaign the Rumanians Y\^ere crushed in a combined Austro- 
German-Bulgarian attack. 

General Von Falkenhayn, co-operating with Von Mackensen, 
cut the main line running to Bucharest at Craiova. The Dob- 
rudja region was over-run and the central Rumanian plain open 
to German advance. The seat of government was transferred from 
Bucharest to Jassy on November 28, 1916, and on December 6tb 
Bucharest was entered by Von Mackensen. 



CHAPTER XIX 
German Methods of Kultur 

It may have been no part of the original German plan to 
ravage Belgium. Had the little country been peaceable and 
friendly to the invaders all might have gone well with her. The 
German Hues of communication passed through Belgiiun and 
they did not wish to waste any considerable part of their fighting 
troops in guarding them. When Belgium proved hostile German 
methods were at once set in motion. Mihtary governors were 
appointed, fines were levied, German currency was employed, 
clocks were set to German time and everything done to convince 
the Belgian people that they were a conquered race. The Belgians 
obstinately refused to be convinced of their defeat. On the con- 
trary, their army of 120,000 men, sheltered behind the forts of 
Antwerp, marched out and on August 23d drove the Germans 
from MaUnes. 

The beginning of the offensive was the beginning of a reign 
of terror in Belgium without parallel in the history of civiKzed 
warfare. Belgium was a hive of industry, its fields were tilled like 
gardens, its httle cities were full of precious tokens of the stormy 
past and the industrious present. Some of the finest stone and 
brickwork of the Flemish Renaissance was found there and whole 
streets and towns had apparently come intact from the fifteenth 
century. Ancient church spires with their famous chimes rose 
high over the flat landscape, and in town and hamlet alike were 
masterpieces of Flemish tapestry and painting. 

Louvain, the chief university town of Belgium, with its town 
hall of miraculous architecture and university containing a hbrary 
full of manuscripts of untold value, and with its Church of St. 
Peter full of treasures of painting and carving, was systematically 
looted, its buildings sprayed with parafl&n and set on fire. 

Malines, a city second only in fame to that of Louvain, was 
also bombarded and set on fire. Termonde, a city containing 
many paintings by Van Dyke and Rubens, housed in treasures 

(282) 



German Methods of Kultur 285 

of architecture, met the same fate, bemg literally levelled to the 
ground. Hundreds of little villages were laid waste by systematic 
bombardment and thoroughly looted. Most of this vandalism 
had no mihtary purpose. The looting of the Belgian cities would 
not have been possible had it not been permitted and instigated 
by officers in command, for the German soldier is too well drilled 
to disobey his superior officer. 

France suffered in like manner from the wanton exponents 
of German Kultur. The gi-eat industrial region of France was 
along the northern borders invaded by the Germans. In 1912, 
of the total steam machinery in France amounting to 3,325,000 
horsepower, 1,250,184 horsepower was to be found in the invaded 
region. The great mines at Lens, the linen of Roubaix, Tourcoing 
and Lille, the woolens of St. Quentin, the steel of Isbergue, the 
glass of St. Gobain, the woolens and wines of Rheims and many 
other industries were to be found in that region. Lille and its 
neighbour cities of Roubaix and Tourcoing, with a joint popula- 
tion of half a million people, was the home of great woolen, cotton, 
linen, machinery and chemical industries. 

When Germany invaded that district she began a system of 
wholesale pillage. All stocks of raw materials and finished articles 
in the mills and storehouses were first taken. Then the leather 
belting, copper and brass fittings were removed together with 
such looms and machinery as were wanted in Germany. In one 
factory, to obtain eighteen francs worth of brass 400 spindles worth 
8,000 francs were removed; 2,250,000 pounds of copper and brass 
were taken from the industrial factories of Turcoing alone. 

Lille had possessed nine-tenths of the Hnen industry of France 
and one-sixth that of the whole world. A certain accredited expert 
of the German Government, Herr Rover, arrived in Lille and 
when he was through there was nothing left of the Lille linen 
factories but the bare walls. 

The woolen mills of Tourcoing and Roubaix were also robbed 
of their looms, the obvious intention being to destroy the French 
industry and make Germany pre-eminent. 

The breweries of Lille and the sugar refineries were also 
stripped and the great chemical industry of Kuhlman covering 
twenty-five hectares of ground utterly gutted. In the industrial 
suburb of Fines, the great locomotive construction workshops, 750 



286 Canada's Sons in the World War 

electric motors and even the steel building 480 feet by 90 feet, were 
dismantled and despatched to Germany. Some machines too 
heavy to move were destroyed by battering them with a huge 
piece of steel swung from a travelling crane, while others were 
torn from their concrete emplacements by the use of the same 
crane. The damage to tools and machinery in this one shop 
amounted to $8,000,000. 

In the Lens mining region mines were flooded and super- 
structures and machinery wrecked so that that great industry 
has been crippled for years to come. 

It has been stated that in France, through the war and Ger- 
man occupation, 500,000 buildings were damaged and 250,000 
destroyed; $2,000,000,000 worth of damage was done to public 
v/orks; 1,000 industrial plants supporting 500,000 persons de- 
stroyed; 250,000 acres rendered uncultivable by the war; over 
$200,000,000 worth of coal mining machinery, $120,000,000 worth 
of cotton and linen machinery, $25,000,000 worth of sugar refining 
machinery, $50,000,000 worth of electric power machinery, $250,- 
000,000 worth of brewing machinery and $150,000,000 worth of 
machinery in foundries, etc., was destroyed. 

The Germans broke every law", hum^an or divine. The honour- 
able traditions of arms were trampled upon m their brutal and 
hcentious fury. Their msolence, which knew no pity and felt no 
love, was part of their system of civihzation and lust of conquest; 
it w^as the result of an arrogance inculcated by the German Em- 
peror, his mihtary chiefs and his professors, which dragged the 
German name in the dust and left it a thing soiled, mutilated and 
despised by decent hum_anity. 

Germ.any was the grandiose reahzation of HegeFs conception 
of the State-as-God. The army, which assured the State its power, 
therefore partook of its divine character. The army, as a sort of 
divinity, when it imagined it was aggrieved or humiliated, de- 
manded expiation and sacrifice — the sacrifice of flourishing cities 
or bodies of men and women. Lacking one attribute even of the 
god of the savages — Justice — it made no distinction between the 
innocent and the guilty. The Teutonic gods of the past, so revered 
by the mxodern Hun, had been noteworthy chiefly for their qualities 
of savage lust and strength. The explosions of wrath of the Ger- 
man army, involving acts of brutal and fcapricious fury, which 



German Methods of Kultur 287 

heaped ruin upon ruin, sent whole cities towering skyward in 
flames, and demanded wholesale sacrifices of innocent blood in 
Belgium and France, seemed to be those of the reincarnated rude 
and savage gods of their German ancestors. 

SINKING OF THE LUSITANIA 

On May 7, 1915, the magnificent Cunard finer Lusitania was 
torpedoed by a German submarine off Kinsale, Ireland. The 
Lusitania had been a great favorite with the travelling pubfic; 
she was beautifully fitted out and for a while held the record for 
crossing the Atlantic, her time being four days eleven hours and 
forty-two minutes — a record only since excelled by the Mauretania 
by one hour. 

Consequently when she sailed from New York she carried as 
usual a large number of passengers — about 1,500 in all — and a 
crew of some 600, in spite of the notices which appeared in the 
New York papers and at the docks warning people not to travel 
by her on that trip. 

The Lusitania was travelling at a speed of eighteen knots an 
hour — less than her usual speed of twent^^-one knots — which would 
bring her at the Liverpool bar without stopping and v/ithin a couple 
of hours of high water. The weather was clear and all was running 
smoothly, when about a quarter after two the second officer saw a 
torpedo approaching and reported the same to Captain Turner, 
who also saw it. The vessel was struck amidships and the engines 
put out of commission. The bulkheads were ordered closed, but 
the Lusitania continued to fist to starboard and in eighteen minutes 
v/ent down. 

The vessel v/as not being convoyed at the time. Nobody had 
dreamed that Germany would go to the length of torpedoing a 
passenger ship. Two other ships, the City of Exeter and Narra- 
gansett, received the S.O.S. caU of the Lusitania and made attempts 
to reach the sinking vessel but v/ere warned off by submarines. 

The total number of fives lost when the ship went down was 
1,198 of which 755 were passengers; 124 of these were Americans 
and included Charles Frohman, the noted theatrical manager; 
Klein, the dramatist; Elbert Hubbard, the writer; Forman, the 
author; Vanderbilt, the multimilfionaire, and many other noted 
people. 



288 Canada's Sons in the World War 

Probably no other single act did so much to open the eyes of 
the neutral world to the character of the enemy we were fighting. 
Questions as to the use of poison gas, Hquid fire and air raids might 
perhaps be debated, but as to the right of a combatant to destroy 
hundreds of innocent men, women and children without question 
there could be no doubt. 

At the front it had a profound effect on our men and many a 
German might have been taken a prisoner who was thereafter 
given no opportunity to surrender. The hearts of the allied soldiers 
were hardened towards an enemy so incapable of pity. And when 
it became known that a medal had been struck two days before 
the Lusitania had been torpedoed, commemorating the event, 
men's hearts burned with a deep indignation that such deliberate 
brutaUty could be not only condoned but gloried in by any 
nation. 

The Lusitania was the immediate cause of diplomatic cor- 
respondence between Washington and Germany, and proved 
to be the beginning of the series of events which brought America 
into the war. 

Later on Germany cast all hesitation to the winds and entered 
upon a wholesale destruction of everything that floated on the 
liigh seas. Fleets of innocent fishermen were sunk by enemy 
submarine gunfire. Trawlers, tramps and sailing vessels, no 
matter where they came from and what their cargo, were sent to 
the bottom. Sometimes the crews were given warning and allowed 
to depart in their small boats, perhaps hundreds of miles from 
land. Many of these died of exposure. In other cases no warning 
was given and the ship was torpedoed or shelled. In numerous 
cases, certified to on oath, the small boats laden with the escaping 
crews and even survivors swimming in the water were fired upon 
by the German submarine crews. Cases have been proved where 
survivors were collected on the U-boat decks and then the latter 
deliberately submerged. 

In one case a German submarine was captured by the British 
and her crew taken on board before a charge of explosive would 
send the submarine to the bottom. Sounds of tapping were for- 
tunately heard in time and a number of British sailors locked in 
a chamber at one end of the submarine were released. The enemy 
even in the m^oment of having his own life saved was too con- 



German Methods of Kultur 289 

temptible to tell of his prisoners whom he would have allowed to go 
to their death. 

It is true there were some exceptions Hkc that of Weddigen, 
the submarine conamander, but they were rare. Nowhere was 
the lack of decent tradition more noticeable than among the under- 
water thugs who seemed to form a considerable part of the U-boat 
personnel. 

Plots against shipping were carried out with all the diaboHcal 
ingenuity possessed by the Germans. Most of these were engineered 
and carried out in the United States while it was still neutral. 

Bombs were made, placed in cases and shipped as merchandise 
on sea-going ships. Four or five days afterwards, time clocks 
would cause them to explode and set the ship on fire. Four hundred 
bombs of this variety were made under the direction of a certain 
von Igel and thirty-three vessels sailing from New York alone 
were set on fire by them. Similar bombs were placed aboard 
vessels at New Orleans and other ports. Several of the guilty 
parties were arrested and sentenced for conspiracy. 

Another device invented by Robert Fay, a German officer, 
was found to be capable of sinking a ship with only forty pounds 
of contained explosive. The same man and his accomplices were 
convicted of conspiracy to attach explosive bombs to the rudders 
of vessels with the intention of wrecking them at sea. 

Other schemes included the mixing of high explosive, made 
up to resemble pieces of coal, with the coal used on board ships 
so that, on explosion they would wreck the boilers and cause the 
vessel to blow up. Nothing seemed too low or too contemptible 
for German agents to attempt in the way of destroying ships. 

The understanding among the nations before the war was 
that mines should be anchored and should be of such a nature 
that they could never become a permanent menace to navigation. 
In other words, they were to be so constructed that they would, 
after a certain length of time, destroy themselves. Floating mines 
were absolutely forbidden. But, as in many other cases, Germany 
had her own set of Hague Convention rules and paid no atten- 
tion to the official ones. She therefore sowed floating mines broad- 
cast in the high seas about Great Britain and also manufactured 
a type of fixed mine that thus far shows absolutely no sign of 
deterioration. 



290 Canada's Sons in the World War 

Tramp steamers under neutral flags, trawlers and special mine- 
laying submarines deposited these dangerous eggs in huge num- 
bers daily everyrv^here in the ocean. To offset this practice every 
suspicious stranger was boarded and examined by the men of our 
navy, while hundreds of mine sweepers worked away day and 
night sweeping up those dangerous weapons. 

ZEPPELIN RAIDS 

In accordance with their avow^ed policy of terrorizing the 
British, the Germans, after numerous threats of what they in- 
tended to do, began to carry out a series of ZeppeHn raids on Eng- 
land. Their usual objective was London, but frequently they lost 
their bearings and scattered their huge bombs at random over 
the countryside. 

The effect upon the British people was quite the reverse of 
that expected by the enemy. They felt they were at war and 
quite enjoyed the sensation of danger. During the first raids it 
v/as impossible to keep the populace off the streets of London. 
Gradually, however, commonsense prevailed, warnings by bugle 
were sounded half an hour before the raiders were expected, the 
audiences in theatres and concert halls were advised of the expected 
attack and the underground railway tubes and other funk-holes 
were officially recommended. 

To see the brilliant white beams of giant searchlights sweep- 
ing across the sides, criss-crossing each other, darting from one 
cloud to another and plainly searching the heavens for the un- 
v/elcome interlopers was a never-to-be-forgotten sight. 

London rapidly adopted a system of Hghting designed to 
make itr great area as inconspicuous as possible but the Zeppehns, 
apparently using the reflection of the Thames River for a guide, 
were able to locate its general situation. 

Huge numbers of anti-aircraft guns were installed in the 
parks and suburbs of London and other centres so that when a 
raid was in progTess it sounded like a real battle, the din being 
indescribable. The descent of the spent shrapnel and shell cases 
v/as a real danger to the unsheltered spectator. 

The raids were a failure from all standpoints. They neither 
kept artillery, airplanes or anti-aircraft guns in England, nor did 
they intimidate the population. The authorities, backed by public 



German Methods of Kultur 291 

opinion, were not stampeded into by-paths but pursued their 
policy of steadily senduig forward all available men, airplanes and 
material to the front. 

Of course a good deal of damage was done, but London, pur- 
suing its every-day occupation, was vastly amused at a Berlin 
description portraying the metropolis as a heap of ruins. 

In all there were fifty-one raids by aii'ships, causing the death 
of 498 civilians and the injury of 1,236. They were also respon- 
sible for the deaths of 58 soldiers and sailors and the injuring 
of 121. 

There were also 59 airplane raids in which 619 civilians were 
killed and 1,650 injured. In these raids 238 soldiers and sailors 
were killed and 400 injured. 

There were therefore a total of 110 raids and on an average 
there were 10 civilians and 3 soldiers and sailors killed in each raid. 

The greatest losses inflicted by Zeppelins were in raids on 
Norfolk, Suffolk and the home counties of London on October 
13, 1915, when 54 civilians and 17 soldiers and sailors were killed, 
and in West Suffolk and the Midland counties on January 31, 
1916, when 70 civilians Vv^ere killed and 112 injured. I had arrived 
that day in England enroute to France from six weeks' leave in 
Canada, and stopped off at Manchester to hear ^'As You Like It." 
The performance had gotten nicely under way when all the lights 
went out and it was announced that an air raid was in progress. 
Thereupon the Shakespearian players set to work to amuse the 
audience and rendered an excellent concert of readings, solos and 
choral numbers, chiefly old English ballads. After an hour and a 
half the audience was dismissed with an apology for the failure 
of the play. Just after the national anthem had been sung with 
great fervor a shrill female voice, from the top of the gallery, 
called out: ^^Are we downhearted?' ' to which the whole audience 
roared ''No!" The incident was quite characteristic of the British 
people. 

The most serious airplane raid v/as that of Margate, Essex 
and London on June 13, 1917, v/hen 158 civilians and 4 sailors 
and soldiers were killed. The next in severity v/as that of Kent 
on September 4th of the same year when 131 soldiers and sailors 
lost their lives. On that occasion a crowded barrack was hit. 

On Msiy 25, 1917, an airplane raid on Folkestone caused the 



292 Canada's Sons in the World War 

death of 77 civilians and 18 sailors and soldiers. The attack on 
Kent, Essex and London on January 28, 1918, caused the death of 
65 civilians and 2 soldiers and sailors. 

NAVAL RAIDS 

As described in a former chapter, part of the German fleet 
made two or three spasmodic attempts to bombard EngUsh de- 
fenceless towns. In only one of these, th^t on Hartlepool, Scar- 
borough and Whitby on December 16, 1914, were the casualties 
heavy. In this bombardment 127 civilians and 10 soldiers and 
sailors were killed and 567 civilians and 25 soldiers and sailors 
injured. The remarkable thing about those naval raids was the 
coolness displayed by the civilian population and the large number 
of cases of bravery shown by both men and vvomen. 

To summarize, there were during the war 5,511 persons in 
England killed or injured, of whom 4,750 were civihans. The 
deaths numbered 1,570. Of those killed 554 were men, 411 were 
women and 295 were children. ¥7hether this was a satisfactory 
record for five years of continuous effort for the nation which had 
officially adopted methods of terrorism, we have no means of 
knowing as yet. 

EDITH CAVELL 

Miss Edith Cavell, an English nurse working in Belgium 
hospitals, was arrested by the Germans on the charge of helping 
English, Belgian and French soldiers to escape. Letters from 
soldiers and civilians, thanking her for the aid given by her for 
helping in these escapes, were intercepted and constituted the 
main evidence against her. 

Miss Cavell freely admitted that she had assisted these men; 
her whole bearing before, during and after the trial indicated that 
this gentle woman had the courage of a hon. 

She was condemned to death on October 11, 1915. 
. No counsel was allowed to see her before the trial; no lawyer 
in Brussels would undertake her defence. 

The American Minister to Belgium did what he could to 
avert the crime but without avail. In the eyes of the enemy, as 
stated subsequently by Zimmerman, the German Under Secretary 
for Foreign Affairs; *'Men and women are equal before the law, 



German Methods of Kultur 293 

and only the degree of guilt makes a difference in the sentence for 
the crime and its consequences/' 

An Anglican clergyman was allowed to see her at ten o'clock 
that night and she was shot by a German firing squad at two o'clock 
on October 12, 1915. 

It was about as stupid a thing as Germany had ever done. 
It intimidated no one but it sent over the whole world a wave of 
deep indignation and resentment that lasts to the present day. 
Patriotism was kindled afresh, recruiting was stimulated and the 
phrase, '^ Remember Edith Cavell," stirred our men on the front 
to fight with even greater determination and a more implacable 
spirit. 

The body of Edith Cavell was brought to England from 
Belgium on a warship on May 15, 1919. It was transported 
on a gun carriage with mihtary escort from Victoria Station to 
Westminster Abbey through streets packed with people; the 
impressive service was attended by the Royal Family and the 
great men and women of England. 

CAPTAIN FRYATT 

An equally stupid act was the murder of Captain Fryatt. 
This officer commanded the merchant vessel Brussels, owned by 
the Great Eastern Railway. On March 20, 1915, he was sum- 
moned by a German U-boat to stop, but instead the gallant captain 
turned at full speed and tried to ram the submarine, which narrowly 
escaped by diving. For his brave action he was presented with 
a gold watch by the mayor and people of Harwich. 

On June 23, 1916, Captain Fryatt was captured by the Ger- 
mans and taken to Zeebrugge. At Bruges he was court-martialled 
on the charge of attempting to ram the German submarine U 33, 
condemned to death and shot. 

In this case German officers may have obtained a little brutal 
satisfaction, but they awakened such a fierce resentment among 
British sailors that the game of submarine hunting became almost 
a naval pastime so hated had the crews of German underwater 
craft become with their lack of fine traditions of the sea to which 
British sailors are born and brought up. 

These two outstanding incidents together with the destruc- 
tion of the Liisitania and the use of poison gases were probably 

17 



294 Canada's Sons in the World War 

the most important in developing a deep resentment among the 
thinking people of the United States and ultimately bringing that 
nation into the war. 

BOMBING OF HOSPITALS 

Near the front there were excuses perhaps for bombing am- 
bulances and casualty clearing stations. These were frequently 
close to miUtary objectives such as railway stations, airplane 
hangars or ammunition dumps. But further back in areas like 
Etaples near Boulogne, where the British general hospitals were 
established — miles from the front — there was no such excuse. 

On May 29, 1918, an airplane attack was made on a Canadian 
hospital at Etaples. Huge bombs went crashing through the roof 
\\Tecking the buildings and killing a large number of patients. 
The building caught fire and it proved exceedingly difficult to get 
patients out of the upper windows. 

Then the enemy airplanes returned to the place and machine- 
gunned the rescuers, fighting up the area with flares which made 
everything as light as day. Among those killed were a number 
of nurses. 

There were other instances just as clear-cut as the one nar- 
rated where there could not have been the sfightest doubt as to 
the fact that the buildings bombed were hospitals. 

Hospital ships were also defiberately sunk in the channel in 
spite of the agreement made with Germany. The enemy claimed that 
hospital ships were used for the transportation of troops, but this 
claim could easily have been disproved and was known to be 
untrue. 

Soldiers crossing the Engfish Channel who have ever seen a 
hospital ship in the darkness of night passing by in a blaze of fight 
and with a huge electric cross on the side, shining out of the dark- 
ness fike a magnificent cluster of diamonds, know that the tor- 
pedoing of such a vessel was intended to be a defiberate murder. 
Several hospital ships were so torpedoed with a considerable loss 
of fife among wounded, disabled soldiers. 

No method of defiberate frightfulness was more despicable 
than that which sent unarmed ships bearing wounded soldiers 
under the protection of the cross recognized as sacred throughout 
the civifized world to the bottom of the sea. 



German Methods of Kultur 295 

MINES 

Clearing the North Sea of mines promises to be an endless 
task for British mine sweepers. The menace from these relics of 
German frightfulness extends from the east coast of England to 
the Scandinavian coast and is constantly dangerous to all sorts 
of shipping. 

Instances of mines exploding on the coast of England for- 
tunately have been few so far, but those that have drifted in have 
caused considerable damage. One mine that was discovered at 
the base of the chffs at Ramsgate at low tide blew up after the 
tide rose and shattered windows in buildings on the cMs over an 
area of more than a mile and a half. 

Despite the fact that the mine was discovered it was con- 
sidered unsafe even to touch it or make the shghtest attempt to 
move it, because one of the horns was resting against a rock and to 
move it even a fraction of an inch meant an explosion. 

When it is understood that the entire floor of the North Sea 
is carpeted with mines, which will remain a potential danger to 
shipping for years to come, some idea may be gleaned of the tasks 
that confront the mine sweepers. These drifters that are flirting 
continually with sudden and violent extermination are carrying 
on a drive for mines much after the manner of a Kansas jack- 
rabbit drive. 

During the early part of 1917 the Germans had at least ten 
submarine mine-layers operating off the east coast of England. 
All of these mine-layers were capable of carrying at least twenty- 
four mines, each mine containing 500 pounds of highest explosive. 
In the Harwich area, upon which the submarine mine-layers 
concentrated for a time, three submarines were operating con- 
tinually. 

During the three months ended April 10, 1917, the Germans 
laid 300 mines in the Harwich area. Practically all these were 
swept up, and either were sunk to the bottom or exploded. There 
can be no accurate figures as to how many were exploded and how 
many sunk, but the proportion would undoubtedly be less than 
two per cent exploded. 

All of the mines that were sunk go to the bottom and drift 
about with the tide, in many cases coming to rest against a sand 
bar, an old wreck, or some minor obstacle on the bottom of the 



296 Canada's Sons in the World War 

North Sea. It is safe to say that not one mile of the bed of the 
North Sea between England and Belgium is free from the 
menace. 

POISON GASES 

About five o'clock on April 22, 1915, the Germans launched 
thek first gas attack upon the alhed lines. The week before a 
deserter from the German fines in the Ypres safient had warned us 
of the impending attack but he was not befieved. 

The gas was discharged upon the French line to the left of 
the Canadians and in a few minutes the French Turcos, dazed and 
in a state of panic, were passing through our artillery lines. I 
happened to be present at the moment and saw the occurrence, 
which will be found described elsewhere. 

The Turcos staggered into the ambulances, choking and cough- 
ing, with blood-shot eyes and many of them of a ghastly greenish 
colour. Many a time thereafter I saw, as I did that night, men by 
the hundred lying in rows in the hospitals, with faces of a blue, 
green or ashy grey appearance, choking, vomiting and gasping for 
air. Many of them died, fiterally from droTMiing, for their lungs 
filled with fluid and they died from asphyxiation. 

It w^as another German idea which went wrong. For months 
they had been experimenting with chlorine gas near the Dutch 
border. Then fiquid gas was brought into the trenches in cylinders 
and sunk in the parapet. When the wind was favourable and every- 
thing ready the cylinders were opened and the gas, under a pressm-e 
of about one hundred pounds to the square inch was projected 
into the air and carried towards the opposite trenches. 

Of course the Germans accused the AUies of employing gas 
first as was their custom when undertaking any new diabofical 
practice. But the AUies did not use gas until the following autumn, 
when its continued use by the Germans compelled retafiatory 
methods. 

Doubtless the enemy expected to break the British line, but, 
as has happened before and since,, they seemed so incapable of 
seizing upon and making use of a success that their grand oppor- 
tunity went by. They had broken the allied line clean. Had 
they poured through the breach and rolled up our flanks the 
Channel ports would have been theirs for the taking. But German 



German Methods of Kultur 297 

caution and German thoroughness lost them their great oppor- 
tunity. All the German authorities gained was the universal 
execration of the whole civiHzed world and, later on, the curses 
of the German soldiers, for the AUies became more expert in the 
use of gas than their German teachers. 

DEPORTATION OF WOMEN 

In April, 1916, the Germans seized and sent away from Lille, 
Roubaix and Tourcoing about 20,000 women. 

They were taken from all classes of homes, collected by night 
in chiu-ches and sent — no one knew whither. The Germans said 
that they were to work on farms, but there is httle doubt that they 
were employed at everything down to that most offensive and 
menial of all jobs, the German officer's slave. 

The news made French men and women turn white with 
impotent rage, for they were absolutely powerless to do anything. 

In April, 1919, a petition prepared by Madame Calmette 
and Mrs. Roosevelt, signed by 1,500 women, was handed to the 
Peace Conference. It said: 

In spite of the most elementary laws of humanity, thousands of 
women, girls and children of every condition were systematically abducted 
from theii' families and were forced to submit to the most odious treat- 
ment. We women of France, with bleeding and broken hearts, demand 
justice from the Peace Conference on behaK of our martyred sisters. 

To prevent such crimes from ever being perpetrated again, we de- 
mand that those guilty of them be punished like ordinary crimiaals. We 
trust you will exact full justice from Germany and her allies. We are 
nearing the anniversary of the day, April 23, 1916, when that odious 
deed, against which the women of all nations protest, was carried out, 
and we firmly trust another year will not elapse before the guilty are 
punished, both those who issued the order from Berlin and those who 
executed it in the most brutal way. 

Is it little wonder that France, at the Peace Conference, 
demanded strong guarantees that would lay the German spectre 
for another century? 



CHAPTER XX 
Canadian Corps Captures Vimy Ridge 

The capture of Vimy Ridge is said to have been the most 
perfectly organized and successful battle of the whole war. It 
was worked out on a model and proved to be a model of a suc- 
cessful limited offensive. 

The battle took months to prepare and every possible care 
was taken by the high command to eliminate every possibility of 
error and to make, in so far as possible, everything favor the Cana- 
dian attacking forces. 

In the summer of 1916 the Canadians on the Somme had 
abundantly proved themselves to be successful offensive fighters. 
It was there decided that the stretch of country from Arras north- 
ward, including the bastion of Vimy Ridge, should be the next 
section attacked. After their Somme experience the battered and 
weary Canadian corps was moved up to the Vimy front along 
the line from E curie to Souchez. There they spent the late 
autunm and winter of 1916 on a fahly quiet though muddy 
sector. 

For months the staffs worked away on maps, plans and defences 
of an attack which was to take place in the spring on this new 
Canadian front. At the end of the year the four Canadian divisions 
were withdrawn to distant rest billets. There, day after day for 
periods of from three to five weeks, the troops were drilled over 
ground as similar as possible to that of Vimy ridge. During that 
training the individual soldier knew not only that an attack was 
impending but he knew the particular piece of ground over which 
he was to attack. Maps, aerial photographs of the enemy positions, 
lengthy descriptions of the Hun defences and minute descriptions 
as to the use of every weapon from hand bombs to the 9.45 ''flying 
pig^' trench mortars were distributed to officers and men. 

With the aid of maps the engineers laid out on the fields 
long white tapes to represent exactly the lay of the enemy trenches. 
By means of coloured flags stuck in the groimd, dugouts, machine- 

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300 Canada's Sons in the World War 

gun posts, minenwerfer positions and other interesting points in 
the Hun lines were shown. 

By the exercise of a Httle imagination the soldier could stand 
in the fields on the tape that represented the Canadian front line 
and ^^ jumping off" place. He could then walk forward over the 
fields, getting clearly pictured in his mind from the tapes and flags 
the whole layout of the Hun defences which he was destined to be 
soon attacking. Each battalion had its groimd laid out for it in 
this fashion, and day after day the battalions did their mimic 
attack over the fields. 

The guns meanwhile were coming in up the line. In the 
darkness of night field guns and howitzers were dragged forward 
into their prepared pits and covered over. Vast quantities of 
ammunition began to fill the gullies and ditches while great dumps 
grew along the hedges and roadsides. Close to the line hundreds 
of dumps were prepared where small-arm ammunition, bombs and 
flares were stored. The ordnance service pushed up as close as 
possible with vast stores of bayonets, wire cutters, clothing, water 
bottles and other equipment. The medical corps opened stations 
in every iTiined cellar or dugout it could claim and filled them with 
bandages and stretchers. 

When the trained and rested infantry returned they scarcely 
knew their old quarters. Numerous neat trenches and plank 
roads replaced poor, untidy ditches. Where there had been a 
single gun firing furtively from behind a hedge there were scores 
of guns scattered all over the district. There were also some 
monstrous, squat, toad-like guns the like of which had never been 
seen before. The whole countryside appeared to be covered with 
dumps, bomb stores and war material, while tens of thousands of 
shells were piled up everywhere. The area was seething with 
secret but wondrous activity. 

The irregular contours of Vimy Ridge dominated the com- 
paratively flat lands of the Artois between Thelus and Avion, the 
outskirts of Lens, a distance of about 8,000 yards. It was a natu- 
rally strong defensive position converted by the Germans into an 
almost impregnable bastion, one of the strongest points in their 
entire system of defences between the Swiss frontier and the sea. 
Its slopes were laced by deep belts of wire protected by countless 
machine guns housed in concrete emplacements. Deep tunnels 




ON VIMY RIDGE, WHERE CANADA WON LAURELS 

The Canadians took the important position of Vimj^ Ridge on Easter Monday, 
April 9, 1917. They advanced with brilHance, having taken the whole system of 
German front-hne trenches between dawn and 6.30 a. m. This shows squads of 
machine gunners operating from shell-craters in support of the infantry on the 
plateau above the ridge. 



Canadian Corps Captures Vimy Ridge 303 

connected the reserve depots in the back country with the forward 
positions on the ridge, and also with the dugouts — huge excavations 
in some cases large enough to hold a battalion. 

Earlier French and British attacks on the ridge had failed 
with terrible losses and the Germans were partly justified in their 
belief that the position was impregnable. This belief the British 
were unwilling to admit and now, equipped with every mechanical 
device of warfare, were ready to demonstrate that there was no 
German system of defence that could not be taken. 

The plans involved an attack on a front of twelve miles by 
four army corps, thirty-eight battaHons of which were Scottish. 
The Vimy Ridge position was confronted by Sir JuHan Byng's 
Canadian corps and one British brigade. 

From the third week of March the guns never ceased barking 
by day or night. Peering over the parapet or through a periscope 
the infantryman could see the German trenches, laid out as he had 
seen them back at Houdain, but erupting in pillars of earth and 
smoke and beuig obliterated by the deluge of high explosive shells 
which continuously whistled and whispered overhead. The artil- 
lery preparation for the infantry attack was thorough and the 
whole of the area to be attacked was heaving from the bursts of 
tens of thousands of shells. 

Back at Canadian headquarters all of the preliminary work 
had been thoroughly co-ordinated and final plans worked out. 
Every divisional commander had voluminous instructions as to 
what he was expected to do, and each of his brigadiers, colonels 
and junior officers knew exactly what was expected of him. 

At 5.30 A. M. on April 9th — Easter Monday — a thousand guns 
opened with a terrific crash upon the German front line. From 
that moment the earth rocked with the concussion of the artillery 
discharges and the whole enemy position was wreathed in the 
flame and smoke of bursting shells, while a snow-storm raged over 
the battlefields. 

There was nothing new in the system of attack except in the 
perfection of the artillery barrage. Each unit was to advance 
strictly over the piece of country selected for it, while shell cur- 
tains timed to advance in front of it would protect the advancing 
troops. 

Wonderful counter battery work was done and battery after 



304 Canada's Sons in the World War 

battery of the enemy was put out of action, located partly by 
direct observation from the air and partly by the new device for 
sound identification. The air fighting on some of the preceding 
clear spring days had been of the most desperate character. The 
Germans in a determined effort to keep us from maintaining our 
aerial supremacy fought valiantly and accounted for forty-eight 
of our planes, while they themselves lost forty-six. It was an 
epoch-making week for the air force and the enemy remained 
blinded. 

When the signal was given the Canadians leaped from their 
trenches and trudged imperturbably over the shell torn ground 
after the barrage. The ill-directed fire of the enemy guns in 
answer to the frantic S.O.S. calls for help was much less effec- 
tive than the sleet of bullets from rifles and machine guns. Men 
fell right and left but the advance continued relentlessly. Enemy 
g-un crews and snipers fought to the death, expecting no mercy and 
receiving none. Mopping-up parties systematically cleared out 
dugouts and prisoners taken were handed back to the Canadian 
lines. The enemy refused to stand and fight with the bayonet, a 
sign that his morale was going. A certain proof of this was fur- 
nished by the fact that machine gunners were found chained to 
theu' guns. The first, second and successive lines were reached on 
schedule time, captured and consolidated. The pecuharity of 
the battle of Vimy Ridge was the number of smaller engagements 
which took place in the main operation. Practically every com- 
pany, within certain limits, fought its own fight in its own way 
and won its victory independently. One of the great reasons for 
success was the rapidity of the aUied advance. From the German 
point of view the battle seemed to consist of a curtain of shells 
which suddenly deluged their trenches, and beyond that curtain 
was another curtain creeping forward slowly, dehberately and re- 
lentlessly across ''No Man's Land.'' 

Then as that second curtain reached their position it suddenly 
lifted and the Canadian and British troops were upon them. There 
was no time for organization or defence; those in the deep dugouts, 
serenely unconscious of impending disaster, were given their first 
intimation that an attack was under way by the appearance of 
mopping-up parties, well loaded with bombs. By April 11th the 
whole of Vimy Ridge was securely in Canadian hands, together 



Canadian Corps Captures Vimy Ridge 305 

with 4,000 prisoners and a large number of guns which General 
Byng formed into a *' first, second and third Pan-German group /^ 

Vimy Ridge proved, as all other engagements before and 
since have proved, that, man for man, the Canadian had nothing 
to fear from personal contact with the enemy. The second battle 
of Ypres proved that humanity was greater than metal! Vimy 
Ridge proved that some races of humanity are distinctly inferior 
to others. It confirmed the conviction of those who before the 
war believed that the individuahty of a peaceful population, 
strengthened and developed by loyalty, was better fighting material 
than a military ridden country could ever produce. 

And it showed that thereafter, given equahty of men'^and 
metal, the issue of any battle would never be in doubt, even when, 
as the following report issued by the German headquarters, and 
taken from a captured German officer showed, the enemy knew 
exactly what preparations were being made and was prepared for 
the attack: 

79th Reserve (German) Division Headquarters 

1 a-01 477-170-S. 30/3/17 

RESUM^ OF SITUATION 

On both sides of Arras and on the northern flank of the Siegfried 
Line there is a very marked concentration of British troops. An equal 
concentration of French troops has been noticed on the southern flank of 
the Siegfried Line (Drocourt-Queant Line) in the Eisenlbogen between 
Berry-au-Bag and Vailly. 

SPRING OFFENSIVE 

The spring offensive of the Entente that was to be expected will most 
probably be staged in this vicinity, perhaps with the intention of turning 
the Siegfried Line (Drocom-t-Queant Line) and thereby defeat its purpose. 
North of Arras the British will be forced, according to the nature of the 
ground, to deliver a joint attack on the long narrow Vimy Eidge, the 
possession of which gives them command of the high ground in this vicinity 
and would also be a safeguard against German attacks on the left British 
flank near Arras. 

Opposed to the division (79th Reserve) are Canadian troops. The 
3d Canadian division on the right flank of the division (79th Reserve 
Division) came into the line about the middle of March. Recent identifi- 
cations place the 2d Canadian Division on the left divisional flank. The 
extreme flanks of the Canadian corps have closed in towards the centre so 
that the Canadian corps now occupy a smaller front than it did a few weeks 
ago. The corps is now echelonned in depth and this formation points to 
operations on a large scale. Behind the front line near Mont St, Eloy 



306 Canada's Sons in the World War 

extensive billets for troops have been erected and this also points to a 
strong concentration, and that troops are holding the front in depth. 
The Canadians are known to be good troops and are, therefore, well 
suited for assaulting. There are no deserters to be found amongst the 
Canadians. 

HOSTILE ARTILLERY 

Hostile artillery has visibly increased during the past weeks, numerous 
new batteries, especially medium cahbre, have been identified. 

HOSTILE DEFENCES 

The repair work done on the hostile trenches also points to a planned 
offensive. From patrol reports the latest aeroplane photographs show that 
new saps are being pushed forward, especially in the Fischer sector (Bauble 
trench to Durand crater). The distance between the Hnes in this sector 
was formerly about 200 metres but now a new position has taken shape 
about 100 metres from the German Line, which consists of three lines of 
trenches very close together. This new system is connected to the rear 
by many communication trenches and is a typical example of jumping- 
off trenches similar to those already used by the French in the Champagne 
in 1915. Men are reported to be busy at work on the trenches. New 
sandbag structures and new chalk heaps are continually being seen, 
probably due to the construction of trench mortar emplacements, etc. 
Also much spoil is visible caused by pushing forward mine galleries. 

The German positions have during the past week been vigorously 
bombarded. Heavy artillery and minenwefer fire has been brought to 
bear on the Fischer sector (Bauble trench to Durand crater) and gradually 
extended to both flanks of the division. The continued artillery activity 
on this front has made it impossible to reclaim damaged trenches and the 
communication trenches have also suffered considerably. D. P.'s have 
been systematically bombarded; heavy artillery fire has been directed 
on the back areas and battery positions. Dm*ing the past few days the 
villages on the back country up to a distance of ten kilometres have been 
severely bombarded. It appears, taking everything into consideration, that 
a programme of systematic destruction of artillery positions, dugouts, 
rearward communications and front line, particularly on both divisional 
flanks, has been put into force. If there are no signs of an immediate 
attack, still, it is very certain that the Canadians are planning an attack 
on a large scale in the immediate future, and both flanks of the division 
can be considered as the chief points where an attack will be pushed home. 
The statement of a prisoner captured early today that the attack was to 
take place between the 20th of March and 6th of April confirms the above. 

(Signed) Von Bachmeister. 

THE SUERENDER OF GENERAL TOWNSHEND 

At the end of November, as we have seen, the small British 
army under General Townshend was surrounded by the Turkish 



Canadian Corps Captures Vimy Ridge 307 

army at Kut, a town situated in a loop of the Tigris River. British 
re-enforcements were being rushed from India, and Turkey, also 
reaUzing the importance of the situation, despatched Marshall Von 
Der Goltz to take command of their forces. 

The British relieving force, consisting of 90,000 men under the 
command of General Sir Percy Lake, began its advance on January 
6th and two days later defeated the enemy in two battles. Gn 
January 22d the British again attacked entrenched Turkish posi- 
tions at Ummel-Hanna, but on account of the heavy rain and the 
sodden nature of the ground failed to dislodge the enemy, equal 
in numbers to themselves. 

Gn March 7th a flanking movement failed to dislodge the 
Turks, and, on account of the Tigris floods, nothing more could be 
done until April. Repeated attacks on both banks of the river for 
eighteen consecutive days had failed to oust an enemy remarkable 
in his aptitude for trench fighting, and the relieving force, worn 
out with continuous fighting and cUmatic conditions, could do 
nothing further. 

The beleagured British garrison at Kut-el-Amara, after a 
resistance of 143 days, surrendered, with its garrison of 3,000 
EngHsh and 6,000 Indian troops. 

The heroic featiu'es of the siege had seldom been equalled. 
Knowing that a reheving force was on its way the Townshend 
garrison at first did not worry, but later on hunger forced them to 
kill their horses and mules for food. Airplanes dropped tobacco 
and small quantities of food but no real rehef was experienced from 
that quarter. Finally the defenders became so weak from starva- 
tion that there was no alternative but surrender. 

The blow at England's prestige in the East created an uproar 
in England and to appease pubHc criticism a commiission of enquiry 
was appointed. Their report stating that the expedition, though 
perhaps justifiable from a poHtical point of view, had been under- 
taken with inadequate preparation and forces, created a sensation. 
Sir John Nixon, who had urged the expedition; Sir Beauchamp 
Duff, Conmiander-in-Chief of the British Forces in India; Lord 
Hardinge, Sir Edmund Barrow, Military Secretary of the India 
Gffice in England, and J. Austen Chamberlain, Secretary for India, 
were all severely criticized. 

In consequence Mr. Chamberlain resigned, though Lord 



308 Canada's Sons in the World War 

Hardinge, the Under Secretary of Foreign Affairs, was absolved 
from responsibility by Parliament. 

Under the command of Lieutenant-General Maude a new 
British expedition was carefully organized. On February 26th 
Kut was recaptured and the British advanced steadily up the Tigiis 
towards Bagdad, overcoming all enemy resistance. On March 7th 
the Turks blocked four attempts to cross the River Diala, eight 
miles below Bagdad, but a crossing was effected two days later and 
on March 11th the city of Bagdad was occupied by the British. 

From the poHtical standpoint the fall of Bagdad was a great 
event, for it demonstrated to the Oriental mind once more that the 
Britisher is never beaten, that there seemed to be no limit to the 
number of times he would return until his purpose had been real- 
ized. It was another proof of the power of the British army. 



CHAPTER XXI 
The Storming of Messines Ridge and Passchendaele 

The battle of the Sonrnie clearly demonstrated a number of 
things. Perhaps the most important of these was the fact that a 
general and uniform advance of an army along a broad front was 
an impossibility, for though a large part of the Hne might be broken, 
there were numerous fortresses, redoubts and strong points v*^hich 
would slow down or hold up the advance at those places. Conse- 
quently until those strong points had been overcome it was in- 
advisable for the rest of the Une to advance oTvdng to enfilading 
fire to which they would be subjected and the heavy toll of casual- 
ties exacted. 

During the German retreat of February and March, 1917, 
the configuration of the French front at the western end had been 
altered. The section of front along the Aisne heights of some 
fifty miles, as we had discovered to our cost, was one of the strong- 
est in Europe. The limestone plateau, intersected by deep ravines 
and interspersed with patches of forest, had been converted into 
an almost im^pregnable fortress. Huge caves, tunnels and barbed 
wire had made the Aisne front an exceedingly difficult front to 
attack. 

The method adopted by General Nivelle, the hero of Verdun, 
was not that of the Somme. He decided that the whole of the 
Aisne heights would be crushed in at the same time by one bold 
assault from west, south and southeast; the Rheims heights on 
the north would be carried at the same time, while his centre 
would be launched through the gap into the plain of Laon. 

So confident was Nivelle that his audacious plan would suc- 
ceed that he told the French Government exactly what he meant 
to do and when it would be done. The forces to be emploj^ed 
were three times as large as those used by Haig in the AiTas offen- 
sive, while the front to be attacked was the longest since the 
battle of the Mame. 

The German front — the armies of the Crown Prince — was 

(309) 



310 Canada's Sons in the World War 

defended by 350,000 infantry and great masses of artillery and 
machine guns; an order had been issued that ^^The first line must 
be defended at all costs." 

THE BATTLE OF THE AISNE 

On April 6th the French preparations began and on April 
15th every gun on the front was speaking. 

At dawn on the 16th the French infantry began the offensive 
which lasted a httle more than a month. There Ts no need in a 
history of this type to follow the varying fortimes of the French in 
this most difficult offensive. Their fighting was marvellous for every 
French battahon was trained to act as ^^ shock'' troops when so re- 
quired; yet the troops that won the line did the holding of the line. 

By April 28th between the Ailette and Suippe Rivers 20,780 
prisoners, 175 guns, 119 trench mortars and 412 machine guns 
had been captured. The enemy had been driven from the banks 
of the Aisne from Soissons to Berry-au-Bac and all the spurs of 
the Aisne heights. The French also had won the centre of the 
tableland. But the dominating height of Craonne and the hills 
of Brimont and Fresnes had not been won. The road to Laon 
was still firmly barred, and though there had been a remarkable 
gain of ground the major strategy had failed. 

As a consequence the French nation was greatly disappointed 
and pubHc feeling called for the leadership of Petain and Foch, 
the chief exponents of the cautious tactics of the Somme. On May 
15th Petain succeeded Nivelle as commander-in-chief of the 
French armies of the main battlefield, while Foch succeeded Petain 
as chief of the General Staff in Paris, — a recently revived position 
similar to that of Sir WilHam Robertson in Great Britain. 

The battle was continued for the purpose of gaining certain 
necessary high points, all of which were won by May 20th with 
the addition of 6,120 prisoners, 52 guns, 42 trench mortars and 
103 machine guns. 

Though the second battle of the Aisne did not achieve its 
aim of dislocating the southern pivot of the Siegfried or Hinden- 
burg line, and did not endanger any vital enemy centre, it had used 
up many of the enemy's shock troops and had cost him positions 
which were necessary for his ultimate security. 

The bad weather on the opening day, the breakdown of the 



Messines Ridge and Passchendaele 311 

tanks and the failure to consider the probabiUty that many strong 
points would hold up the general advance all played a part in 
preventing the complete success of an offensive bold and audacious 
in conception. 

THE GERMAN RETREAT ON THE SOMME 

After the close of the Somme offensive word began to filter 
through from Germany of a new fortified line in front of Cambrai 
and St. Quentin. Aerial observation confirmed the news and the 
construction of the Siegfried or Hindenburg hne was followed with 
great interest by the allied staffs. It was clear enough that as 
soon as the weather proved satisfactory the AlHes^ armies would 
continue to blast their way forward — a process that must eventu- 
ally result in a German disaster. 

Accordingly von Hindenburg decided to fall back on a new 
prepared position which would render it necessary for the Allies 
to advance over ground that he intended to convert into a desert. 
It was possible that in such a retreat the Allies would be caught 
napping and a defeat inflicted upon them. 

In the spring of 1917 the British intended to make an assault 
between the Scarpe and Ancre with the Third and Fifth armies, 
and then develop the main operation of the summer campaign of 
1916. To supply material to perfect the communications the rail- 
way companies of Britain and Canada tore up tracks and forwarded 
the necessary rails to France. 

On January 11, 1917, the first advance was made near Beau- 
mont Hamel and thereafter several small advances prepared the 
way for more elaborate operations. As a result of the commanding 
positions gained the German front became untenable and the 
Germans began to fall back from positions north of the Albert- 
Bapaume road. Rapid pursuit was impossible on account of the 
nature of the roads, but constant touch was maintained with the 
enemy. 

On February 26th the British took over from the French 
the ground as far south as Roye. 

In the middle of March, after numerous attacks which steadily 
ate into the enemy defences, the enemy began a general retreat 
between the Aisne and Arras. The British artillery, brought 
forward with surprising speed, opened up against the enemy and 



312 Canada's Sons in the World War 

dislocated his plans for an orderly and leisurely retreat. General 
pressure was now maintained along the whole aUied front with 
the consequence that the advance spread from Arras to Soissons. 
There was no serious resistance and the British and French armies 
advanced steadily. 

The area yielded by the German armies in retreat is now 
known as the Hindenburg Desert. Ever}i:hiiig H\TDg was destroyed 
and ever}^ thing inanimate blown up. The marks of the beast 
were everywhere apparent and the details published in the German 
press met with general German approbation. No words could 
describe the loathing inspired in the aUied soldiers for these savage 
measures, but their anxiety to again come in contact with the 
perpetrators of such criminal work increased threefold. The Senate 
of France sent out this message to the world: 

The Senate denounces to the cmhzed world the criminal acts com- 
mitted by the Germans in the regions of France occupied by them — crimes 
against private property and pubhc buildings, honour, hberty, life; crimes 
perpetrated without the shghtest excuse of mihtarj^ necessity and in syste- 
matic contempt for the International Convention of October, 1907, ratified 
by representatives of the German Empne. It holds up to miiversal execra- 
tion the authors of these misdeeds, for which justice demands punishment. 

During the advance the Allies had to feel their way forward 
in a country fuU of possible perils. Behind them there were pre- 
pared lines of trenches, new roads and bridges so that in case of 
retreat they would not be caught unprepared. By April the 
British were close to the new Hindenbm-g line near St. Quentin 
and a few days later the whole enemy front stiffened showing that 
the new line had been reached. 

The enemy had retired some twenty miles, had lost few men 
or gims and had conducted a skilful retreat. His main piu-pose, 
to launch a counter-stroke with his large reserv^e force collected 
for that object, failed because of the rapid advance of the AUies. 
He had reached his famous line in safety but his peiinanent security 
depended on the retention of the pivotal points around Arras in 
the north and La on in the south. 

The next point to be attacked therefore was the pivot around 
Arras. In this offensive the Canadians, by the capture of Vimy 
Ridge, attained perhaps the most brilliant success of the war on 
the British front. (This is described in Chapter XX,) 



Messines Ridge and Passchendaele 313 

BRITISH BREAK THE HINDENBURG LINE 

The thii'd British army occupied the Arras region. The 
old German lines near Lens were very strong, consisting of four 
series of trenches with the usual redoubts and switch Hnes, so that 
the defensive system was from two to five miles in depth. In case 
of an assault upon the Arras saHent they had constructed a very 
powerful independent line running from Drocourt to the new 
Hindenbm'g line at Queant. This constituted the Drocourt- 
Queant switch which later on became so famous as one of the 
strongest defence hnes in Em^ope, and was intended to protect 
Douai and Cambrai. Its loss would make the Hindenburg Hne 
untenable. 

The key of the area was Vimy Ridge which dominated the 
British front on the Souchez, The front to be attacked reached 
from Givenchy-en-Gobelle to Croiselles, a distance of twelve 
miles. On April 4th the bombardment of the enemy positions 
began, and particular attention was paid to the enemy batteries 
many of which were put out of action by direct observation, and 
many by the new method of sound identification. 

On Easter Monday, April 9th, the attack began and the 
British line swept forward. The Canadians quickly overran Vimy 
Ridge and by nine o'clock most of it was in our hands while the rest 
of the front attacked had been penetrated beyond the second Hne. 
By evening the enemy's third hne had been broken into and in 
some places completely destroyed. 

By April 11th the battle of Arras had slowed down until the 
guns could be brought forward. The attack had penetrated half- 
way to the Drocourt-Queant line and had carried two miles of 
the northern end of the Siegfried or Hindenburg line; 12,000 pris- 
oners and 150 guns had been captured. The lesson of the Somme 
that the slow, laborious and painstaking tactics were the true ones 
was confirmed. 

On April 12th and succeeding days further advances were 
made and a number of villages and towns were captured. From 
the 14th the Germans made frequent counter-attacks, which gained 
them no ground and lost them many men. 

The French now began their attack in the Aisne, along the 
southern part of the Hindenburg hne. From that time on the 
British were concerned with efforts designed to reUeve the pressure 



314 Canada's Sons in the World War 

on the French by pressmg on toward Douai and Cambrai and gain 
a front favourable for future operations. 

From the end of April on it was a matter of limited objectives. 
On May 3d the Canadians on the left broke through and took 
the village of Fresnoy, while the Australians on the right carried 
the front and support of Hindenburg lines at BuUecourt. Though 
the centre was advanced it was counter-attacked later and driven 
back, the Canadians and AustraHans holding firm in their positions. 

From May 8th to the 16th there was steady fighting for the 
key points, and oiu- line was pushed forward in several places. 
Particularly noteworthy was the defence of BuUecourt by the 
AustraHans who with some assistance captured the two front 
positions of the Hindenburg line on a front of one mile. 

By the end of May the battle of Arras had come to an end. 
It compared splendidly mth any other British offensive, for in a 
month we had taken 20,000 prisoners, 257 guns, 227 trench mortars 
and 470 machine guns. The enemy had lost a wonderful key 
position in Vimy Ridge, about seven miles of his marvellous new 
Hindenburg line, and the important position of BuUecourt. The 
Germans had sustained 350,000 casualties and had been compelled to 
withdraw 74 of their 104 divisions in action for reorganization. 

THE MESSINES-WYTSCHAETE RIDGE 

Late in 1916 Sir Douglas Haig had debased the plan of driving 
in the German right flank along the Belgian coast, to destroy 
the worst of the enemy submarine bases, T\in back Belgian soil 
and destroy some of the German lines of communication. Since 
the conception of that plan the Russian disaster had enabled the 
Germans to greatly strengthen the western front with men, guns 
and ammunition, while the Arras offensive had used up a con- 
siderable nmnber of our reserves. 

The great general and simultaneous offensive then agreed 
upon, as we have seen, did not materiahze. The combined British 
and French spring offensive was launched before Italy was pre- 
pared. Russia had failed to give the help expected and the general 
result of the dislocation of the alHed plan enabled the Central 
Powers to make a far better defence than they could otherwise 
have done by despatching troops from one front to another as 
occasion required. 



Messines Ridge and Passchendaele 315 

Nevertheless it was decided to carry out the offensive as 
planned in Flanders, the first objective aimed at being the Mes- 
sines- Wytschaete Ridge. Until the demands of the Arras opera- 
tion had been satisfied neither material nor labour was available 
in sufficient quantity. Since the previous autumn preparations 
had been under v/ay and as soon as the Arras battle had died away 
roads, railroads, water-pipe lines and other works were carried 
forward with great rapidity. 

The Messines-Wytschaete Ridge, as it appeared to me from 
the British Une at Mount Kemmel, was a low slope seamed with 
trenches and showing the remains of splintered woods. The ruins 
of Wytschaete on the crest of the slope shone white in the sun, 
while the spire of a ruined church indicated the location of Mes- 
sines. Wytschaete lay opposite Kenmiel Hill and was approxi- 
mately haK way between Messines, which the -Canadian artillery 
had battered so thoroughly from Ploegsteert, and St. Eloi, where 
the Second Canadian division had fought so heroically in the 
battle of the Craters. In front of those three points the British 
fines formed a great sweeping semicircle; the objective contem- 
plated the flattening out of this salient. This meant a penetration 
of about two and a half miles in the centre of the safient to the 
village of Oostaverne. To capture this meant that the whole 
ridge would fall to us and our fine would be shortened from about 
ten to six miles. 

For nearly two years along the ridge a battle had been going 
on underground, — a battle of miners. Some of the greatest mining 
experts in the world were engaged in supervising the tunnels being 
driven under the enemy fines. The enemy was also busily engaged 
counter-mining and a constant underground struggle was waged 
in which each combatant exerted Ms utmost endeavours to blow 
in the other's galleries and render his operations useless. In aU 
the British had constructed five miles of underground gaUeries 
along the ridge front and had charged them with a milfion pounds 
of the high explosive ammonal. Nineteen mines out of the twenty- 
four constructed were ready for our attack on June 6th. 

At dawn on June 7th the British bombardment of the German 
lines had ceased. Bom^bing planes hummed through the fightening 
sky and our sausage balloons had just gone up when with a shock 
fike a terrible earthquake the nineteen mines blew up. To the 



316 Canada's Sons in the World War 

onlooker they resembled huge volcanoes m violent eruption, while 
the great throbbing of the concussion seemed to fill the whole earth. 

As the dust and smoke hung suspended against the rising sun 
every British gun opened up and the British waves of assault 
poured up the enemy slopes. Passing through a region smashed 
and tortured beyond recognition our infantry swarmed into the 
enemy positions capturing them all along the line. The Aus- 
trahans advancing on the south captured the southern slopes of 
the Messines Ridge; the New Zealanders captm*ed Messines 
village. Farther north the Ulster division swept over the crest 
between Messines and Wytschaete capturing the latter place with 
the aid of the South of Ireland division (18th). North of this 
again Welsh and English divisions fought through to Oostaverne 
itself. On the extreme left of the line attacked, the Tenth corps, 
after some desperate fighting around the White Chateau and 
Ravine Wood, gained all its objectives and safeguarded the flank. 
Before dark the whole position was firmly in the hands of the 
British. 

Like the battle of Vimy Ridge this battle had been most 
carefully planned and brilliantly carried through. In a single 
day General Sir Herbert Plumer had, on a front of ten miles, 
carried the ridges which the enemy had considered impregnable, 
had wiped out the salient and had captured 7,200 prisoners, 67 
guns, 294 machine guns and 94 trench mortars. 

To the Canadian who knew that front thoroughly from Ploeg- 
steert Woods to the Ypres salient the captiu-e of the Messines 
Ridge caused a great deal of satisfaction. For many long months, 
particularly in the spring of 1916, the Canadians had been com- 
pelled to travel around the sahent at night like stray cats. Many 
a time when crossing the fields far from the ridge, single men had 
been sniped at with field guns. The \'iew of om* old positions from 
the ridge was so complete that British officers were no longer 
surprised that our transport and troops should have been so fre- 
quently shelled, or our movements so thoroughly observed. 

LENS AND HILL 70 

The capture of the Messines- Wytschaete Ridge was merely 
the prelude to the main offensive of breaking out through the 
Ypres sahent to the coast. 



Messines Ridge and Passchendaele 317 

Meanwhile in the south the third British army, which included 
the Canadian corps, in order to attract attention from the north 
carried out a series of minor offensives around Arras and Lens. 

Early in May local attacks had been made by Canadian troops 
in the neighbourhood of Souchez River, which formed the prelude 
to a long-sustained series of minor operations directed against the 
defence of Lens. The capture of Vimy Ridge by the Canadians 
had made these attacks possible and had opened up the road to 
many long-cherished projects. The capture of Lens was an ob- 
jective with a view to an attack on Lille from the south. On 
Jime 26th the Canadians took La Coulotte and by the morning 
of June 28th had reached the outskirts of Avion. 

On June 28th a mock attack was made on a twelve-mile 
front from Gavrelle to Hulluch accompanied by discharges of gas, 
smoke and thermit. At the same time real attacks were made 
on a 2,000-yard front opposite Oppy and by Canadian and North 
Midland troops on a two and a half mile front astride the Souchez 
River wdth complete success. 

It will be remembered that the Highlanders of the Fifteenth 
Scottish division had, during the battle of Loos, swarmed across 
Hill 70 and penetrated as far as the Cite St. Auguste, a mining 
suburb of Lens. The Hill was then lost, but on August 15th at 4.25 
A. M., the Canadians of the First and Second divisions swept over 
Hill 70 and across the Lens-La Bassee road, capturing the suburbs 
of Cite St. Laurent, and Cite St. Emile. North of it they won the 
Bois Rase and the western haK of the Bois Hugo. Coimter- 
attacks by local German reserves and a division of the German 
guard were caught in the open by Canadian rifle and machine-gun 
fire and withered away. 

The Canadian attack was pushed still closer home on August 
21st by the Second and Fourth Canadian divisions. The fighting 
was very severe, indeed it is said to have been the severest that 
Canadian troops had ever experienced. The Canadian corps 
lost 9,000 men in the battle of Lens and Hill 70. 

THE BATTLE OF PASSCHENDAELE 

The offensive known as the third battle of Ypres had for 
various reasons been unavoidably postponed and it was not till 
the end of July that the attack was begun. The visibiHty was 



318 Canada's Sons in the World War 

bad and though the aerial offensive had been launched and numer- 
ous gas attacks and raids carried out to the north of the Lys, condi- 
tions for the actual launching of the offensive did not prove suit- 
able till July 31st. 

The front to be attacked extended from the Lys River opposite 
Doulemont to Steenstraat, a distance of fifteen miles. The main 
blow was to be deHvered by the fifth army on a front of seven 
and a haK miles from the Zillebeke-Zandvoorde road to Boesinghe. 
The second army was to increase the area captured and the French 
on the left of the Fifth British army were to advance and protect 
their flank from attacks from the north. The advance was to be 
over a difficult country in a series of bounds as limited by the 
configuration of the ground and the enemy's defences. 

On July 31st the main offensive was launched and rapid 
progress made. All objectives north of St. JuHen were reached, 
but after the capture of the first line hard fighting was experienced 
east of Ypres where the Menin Road crossed the Wytschaete- 
Messines Ridge and formed the key to the enemy's position. On 
the first day practically the whole of the crest of the ridge had been 
gained and the first German system of defence south of Westhoek 
carried. The second line of defence had been captured as far as 
St. Julien while the French to the British left had kept step with 
us. The attack of the second army had met with complete success. 
Over 6,100 prisoners and 25 guns were taken on the first day. 

No one who has not spent a year in Flanders can possibly 
conceive of the conditions brought about by rainy weather. The 
heavy clay soil holds the rain and becomes tenacious Hke glue. 
The creeks and ditches overflow and become stretches of bog and 
to leave the beaten roads spells disaster to man or beast. 

During the first afternoon of the battle the rain began and for 
four days continued without cessation. To quote from Sir Douglas 
Haig's despatch: 

The low-lying, clayey soil, torn by shells and sodden with rain, tm*ned 
to a succession of vast muddy pools. The valleys of the choked and over- 
flowing streams were speedily transformed into long stretches of bog, 
impassable except by a few well-defined tracks, which became marks for 
the enemy's artillery. To leave these tracks was to risk death by drowTi- 
iQg, and in the coiu'se of subsequent fighting on several occasions both 
men and pack animals were lost in this way. In these conditions opera- 
tions of any magnitude became impossible, and the resumption of our 





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Messines Ridge and Passchendaele 321 

offensive was necessarily postponed until a period of fine weather should 
allow the ground to recover. 

The unavoidable delay was most valuable to the enemy, 
enabling him to recover from our first attack and to bring up 
re-enforcements. 

Though the troops endured terrible hardships owdng to the 
weather, the ground gained was consolidated in spite of violent 
counter-attacks. On August 3d St. JuHen, a name associated 
forever with the glorious defence of the First Canadian di\'ision 
in the second battle of Ypres, w^as taken and a week later Westhoek 
fell to Enghsh troops. 

On August 16th the second British attack was launched north 
and east of Ypres and on the left gained their final objective in 
the capture of the Langemarck-Gheluveldt Line. In the centre 
obstinate enemy resistance was met. Owing to the impossibility 
of constructing deep trenches and dugouts because of the water- 
logged ground the enemy, under General Von Arnim, had resorted 
to a new type of defence in ''pill boxes. '^ These field forts built of 
steel and concrete several feet thick were distributed in depth, 
were heavily armed wdth machine guns and protected by heavy 
lacings of barbed wire. These forts presented too small a mark 
for direct hits and formed a very serious obstacle to our advance. 
The enemy also had adopted a system of elastic defence in which 
the forward lines were only lightly held while heavy forces w^ere 
kept in reserve. On account of the weather airplane observation 
was practically impossible so that little help from artillery during 
enemy counter-attacks was available. As a consequence our troops 
were gradually compelled to fall back along the Wieltze-Passchen- 
daele Road, in spite of w^hich the day closed as a decided success 
for the Allies. Thirty guns and 2,000 prisoners w^ere taken. 

Nevertheless the new tactics of the enemy, undoubtedly suc- 
cessful in defence, compelled us to modify our methods of offence 
and new^ methods w^ere worked out to overcome them. The method 
employed was to put dowTi a heavy barrage to cover each "pill 
box" and stun or poison the inmates with the concussion and 
fmnes of the shell bursts. Another successful method consisted 
in lengthening the field gun baiTage on both sides of the ''pill box," 
thereby enabling the advancing troops to get aroimd to its unpro- 
tected rear and bomb out the hives. 



322 Canada's Sons in the World War 

At the beginning of September the weather improved and 
on September 20th Australian, English, Scottish and South African 
troops attacked on an eight-mile front, with a thoroughness which 
won the whole of the important high ground crossed by the Menin 
Road and along the rest of the sector attacked. Over 3,000 prisoners 
were captured by us. Heavy coimter-attacks were broken down by 
our troops and the position consohdated. 

On September 26th a fui'ther attack on a six-mile front resulted 
in the capture of Polygon Wood by the Austrahans and Zonnebeke 
by English troops. Seven heavy attacks launched against us 
were repulsed, and on September 30th several other attacks against 
our lines, many of them with flaming Hquids, broke down. 

On October 4th, the day for which the next stage had been 
planned, a gale with heavy rains broke over the front. On that 
day occurred a unique thing, for at 6 a. m. both the British and 
German troops left their trenches to assault at the same time, 
with the result that the enemy was hopelessly outclassed at close 
quarters and was driven back. By noon every objective was taken, 
including the Gravenstafel Ridge and village taken by the New 
Zealanders, and Noordemhoek and Reutel captured by the British. 
Five thousand prisoners were taken on that day and counter- 
attacks all failed; 9,000 yards of the final ridge had been won, 
while possession of the Gravenstafel spur protected the northern 
flank. The elastic system of defence had been conquered. 

Two months of hard fighting under terrible weather had 
resulted in achieving only what had been planned for the first two 
weeks. The weather, worse than it had been for many years, 
nullified om^ successes because they could not be followed up and 
taken advantage of. The hope of clearing the enemy out of his 
Flemish bases had gone, for the objectives lay far beyond the 
Passchendaele Ridge. In view of the situation it only remained 
to capture the last of our limited objectives — the Passchendaele 
Ridge — to secure our own position for the winter. 

The last stage of the third battle of Ypres, commonly called 
by Canadians the battle of Passchendaele, was probably the 
muddiest and most difficult operation ever carried out. On October 
9th our infantry moved forward under diipping skies and in the 
north won all their objectives by noon, seizing the outskkts- of 
Houthulst Forest and Poelcapelle. In the centre British terri- 



Messines Ridge and Passchendaele 323 

torials and Australians moved forward towards Passchendaele 
also taking their objectives. 

The rain, falling in sheets, prevented further serious offensives, 
though 1,000 prisoners were taken at Houthulst Forest. The 
misery of our fighting men now almost surpassed endurance. 
The country was one great bog and the shell holes kept brim full 
by the ceaseless downpour were a constant source of danger to the 
unwary. Wounded men frequently were drowned in the mud and 
water. Men loaded with packs falHng into shell holes were unable 
to crawl out without assistance and, if none was forthcoming, 
perished. Men's feet sank deep into the treacherous clay and 
progress could be made only by the most heroic efforts. 

CANADIANS CAPTURE PASSCHENDAELE 

Further serious advance had now become almost impossible 
under such conditions, but Sir Douglas Haig wished to carry on 
for two weeks longer in view of an offensive being prepared further 
south. Accordingly the Canadian Corps was asked for and sent 
northward to the saHent so abhorred by all old Canadian soldiers, 
the attack about Lens being temporarily postponed. 

On October 18th, General Sir Arthur Ciu-rie took over the 
command of the Passchendaele front and on the 22d the New 
Zealand and Third Austrahan di\'isions in the trenches in front 
of Passchendaele were reUeved by the Third and Fourth Canadian 
divisions. The operations by the Canadian Corps were carried 
out in four distinct phases, October 16th and 30th by the Third 
and Fourth divisions, and November 6th and 11th by the First 
and Second divisions. 

During the first few days Sir Arthur Currie had numerous 
plank roads built of the kind which had proved so useful in other 
Canadian operations. Though carried on under heavy shell fire 
this vital work was continued and completed at the necessary 
cost of fife and equipment. The fight railway was also extended 
and then over these roads huge quantities of sheUs and all kinds 
of material were rushed into the advanced areas. 

Though unable to build proper gun emplacements on account 
of the mud, and though actually inferior to the Germans in guns, 
our artillery, fighting in the open and constantly exposed to the 
fumes of gas shells, particularly mustard gas, did magnificent work. 



324 Canada's Sons in the World War 

Back of the lines for fifteen niiles enemy aeroplanes nightly 
bombed everything that seemed to them to be of importance. 
Roads along which our transport had to pass were searched with 
shrapnel, high explosives and gas shells, vvhile a constant rain of 
shells poured upon the fields behind the front. The mud fortunately 
allowed these shells to bury themselves deeply before they exploded 
so that in blowing upward their effect was largely nullified. 

The German position to be taken for the depth of a mile or 
more consisted of a series of ridges and spurs and was very strong. 
The numerous Httle concrete forts frequently had no surface 
exits, being entered through tunnels which opened to the sm-face 
scores of yards away. Consequently the troops within could 
operate their machine guns with every advantage. 

It must also be reahzed that the Germans were now fighting 
with renewed vigor. The Russian and Itahan defeats had inspired 
a new spirit of confidence in not only the army but the whole 
German nation. Consequently the German soldier fought better 
than he had for some time and put up a vigorous defence. 

Between the Gravenstafel spur and the Belle\aie spur which 
runs westward from Passchendaele is a Httle valley through which 
flows a small creek called the Ravebeek. Pouring through this 
valley at dawn on October 26th the Canadians captured the hill 
south of Passchendaele village. 

The Canadians had failed to take the spin- and were back in 
their original trenches when Lieutenant Shankland, who had 
managed with fifty men to occupy a commanding point on the 
top of the ridge, came back for re-enforcements. Troops were 
immediately sent to his assistance with the result that after bitter 
fighting Bellevue spur was taken. 

By evening the Canadians held all of their objectives. 

On October 30th at 6.50 a. m. the Canadians attacked from 
the end of the Ravebeek Valley and the crest of the ridge, being 
supported on the north by the advance of the London Territorials 
and Royal Naval division. At 10 a. m. the rain began once more 
and the Canadians met some of the strongest resistance in the 
Fifth and Eleventh Bavarian divisions that they had ever en- 
countered. South of the village the Tw^elfth Canadian brigade won 
Crest Farm, and the spur west of the village, holding them against 
five counter-attacks. They also forced their v/ay into Passchen- 



Messines Ridge and Passchendaele 325 

daele itself, their front then forming a sharp salient because the 
progress of the Territorial and Naval divisions had been held up 
by the nature of the ground. 

On Tuesday, November 6th, at 6 a. m., the Canadians of the 
First and Second divisions swept forward capturing the whole of 
Passchendaele and the Goudberg spur to the north. The final 
attack on November 10th increased their gains and gave them 
possession of all the high ground northeast of Passchendaele, 
leaving the town itself well within the Canadian lines. 

During a Canadian advance one regiment was held up by 
machine-gun fire from a ''pill box" winch, perched on a sHght 
elevation, commanded all the ground before it. Suddenly a young 
soldier dashed forward from the line into a shell hole. Immediately 
the machine guns were turned upon him and the battahon seized 
the opportunity to advance. The machine guns were again turned 
upon the battalion when the soldier dashed forward to another 
shell hole. By such means dashing from hole to hole he finally 
got to the rear of the ''pill box" and hurhng in bombs, cleaned 
out the garrison. For this action which allowed the whole battalion 
to advance, Thos. Holmes of Owen Sound, Ontario, eighteen 
years of age, and the youngest soldier ever given the award, was 
granted the Victoria Cross, and received on his return to Canada 
a welcome such as has seldom been accorded to any hero. 

Searching for the wounded the stretcher bearers, fearless of 
death, carried on their work during the battle and kept a steady 
stream of casualties floTving through the dressing stations, which 
were close up under shell fire. The Padres and Y. M. C. A. officers 
worked side by side helping the doctors and pro\dding hot cocoa 
and biscuits to the stretcher bearers and wounded. Back a fit tie 
farther the fight trolleys and ambulances carried away to the 
field ambulances the men who, as they themselves expressed it, 
were lucky enough to be hit. The battle of Passchendaele was 
destined to be the most terrible and tragic battle that the Canadian 
Corps was to experience. 

All the vital part of the main ridge of West Flanders was 
now in British hands and we dominated the flats towards Roulers 
and Thourout. The terrible safient of Ypres, where for three years 
the Allies had been at the mercy of German artillery, had been 
wiped out. The losses of the Canadian Corps in this battle were 



326 Canada's Sons in the World War 

heavy, the killed, wounded and missing amounting to 14,867 men. 
The Canadians took 1,200 prisoners. To Canada fell the crowning 
victory of the third battle of Ypres; the first gas attack of April 
22d, 1915, against the First Canadian division, when only two 
dauntless brigades of infantry stood between the enemy and the 
channel, had been amply avenged. 

The capture of Passchendaele brought to a close the third 
battle of Ypres. The seas of Flemish mud had proved to be our 
greatest enemy and our losses, largely because of the rain and its 
consequences, were heavy. Seventy-eight German divisions had 
been drawn into the fray, but Germany had many new re-enforce- 
ments in the many divisions drawn from the Russian front. In 
the offensive we captured 24,000 prisoners, 74 guns, 194 machine 
guns and 138 trench mortars. 

CANADIANS IN WINTER 1917-18 

After the necessary reorganization the Canadian Corps re- 
turned to the Lens front and continued the envelopment of that 
city until the great German offensive of March, 1918. 

The word had gone out that there were to be no further 
advances by the aUied armies. The Germans on the western 
front had now been enormously strengthened by the transfer of 
troops and guns from the Russian front and the deflection of 
ammunition from the eastern theatre. 

The year had not gone well for the Allies in spite of numerous 
victories. The battles of Arras, Vimy, Messines and Flanders 
or third battle of Ypres had been won by the British. The French 
had also won the victories of Moronvilliers, Verdun and Malmaison. 
Throughout the year, except when weather conditions permitted, 
a continuous oft'ensive had been waged by the British, who had now 
assumed the greater share of the burden. One himdred and thirty- 
one German divisions had been engaged and defeated by less than 
half thfit number of British divisions. From April 9th, exclud- 
ing the Cambrai battle, we had captured 57,696 prisoners includ- 
ing 1,290 officers. In the same period we had also taken 393 guns 
of which 109 were heavies, 561 trench mortars and 1,976 machine 
guns. In the battle of Cambrai later on 11,100 prisoners and 
145 guns were taken. 

The British armies in the year had taken 125,000 prisoners 



Messines Ridge and Passchendaele 327 

but had suffered heavily. During the year of 1917 they had 
sustained 800,000 casualties, which was sufficient. e\'idence of the 
part Britain was playing. The new levies had not come along as 
rapidly as they were needed and many of them were insuffi- 
ciently trained. Furthermore, the French in spite of the figures 
quoted, did not believe that Great Britain was pulling herfull weight, 
with the result that the newspaper campaign conducted in Paris 
compelled the British to further extend their line from St. Quentin 
to La Fere on the Oise. 

So it was that a new situation had come about. The enemy, 
again confident in his superiority on the western front and with 
the dreaded Russian giant out of the way, no longer talked of a 
peace except that which he would bring about through a victory 
in the field. 

THE ITALIAN FRONT 

By June 3d the Austrian offensive in the Trentino had prac- 
tically exhausted itself and on June 16th the Italian counter- 
offensive began. In two days the Austrians had lost half the 
territory they had gained in their six weeks^ offensive at the cost 
of 130,000 men. Austria had to count the Trentino offensive a 
failure; it had not attained its objectives of the Venetian plains 
and the Isonzo railway communications; it had weakened her 
resistance to the Russian attack, and, most important of aU, it 
had taught the Italian army the business of warfare. 

During the pre\dous ^dnter Italy had collected much amjnu- 
nition and many guns, while the army staff had been busily en- 
gaged in planning the details of an offensive in the Isonzo region. 
This was one of the most difficult battlefields of Europe. The 
Itahan right wing lay along the western edge of the Carso, — that 
barren, rocky waterless plain of burning heat in the daytime and 
icy cold at night. To the north of the Carso was Mont San Michele 
which had hitherto defied all efforts of the Itahans to take. In 
the assault in the Isonzo which contemplated the capture of 
Gorizia, General Cadoma intended to make a feint against the 
opposite end of the Carso position, in order to attract the Austrian 
reserv^es. Then when the main enemy strength had been gathered 
in that position Cadoma intended to strike with his chief forces 
against Gorizia on the San Michele front. 



328 Canada's Sons in the World War 

CADORNA ENTERS GORIZIA 

The feint attack was made on August 4th and achieved the 
purpose intended, while the real attack was launched on August 
6th along the front from Sabotino to San Michele. The fighting 
of the Italians against positions which might well be considered 
impregnable was brilUant and position after position fell to them. 
On August 9th Gorizia was entered by Cadoma, thus ending the 
first stage of the offensive. 

Trieste was the secondary objective of the ItaHans and on 
August 10th an advance began on the Vallone which proceeded 
until August 15th when it came to a standstill. 

By this offensive the ItaHans had won Gorizia and the Gorizia 
plain; the Austrians had been compelled to lengthen their line, 
the Isonzo defensive system had gone and the road to Trieste 
opened up. The Austrians had suffered 80,000 casualties and lost 
19,000 prisoners, 30 heavy guns, 62 pieces of trench artillery and 
92 machine guns. 

Italy was transported with joy and her new enthusiasm for 
the war sohdified the nation as nothing else had ever done. Though 
she had never declared war on Germany, Italy's position had now 
become not only anomalous but ridiculous. Germany had supplied 
Austria, Italy's chief enemy, with guns, munitions and material, 
while it was largely German soldiers and sailors who directed 
every operation against the ItaHan nation. The new Italian 
national spirit demanded that their enemy should be openly 
recognized and on August 28th Italy annoimced a state of war 
to exist with Germany. 

The Carso was to be the next theatre and after a month's 
preparation a great bombardment of the Austrian trenches began 
and on September 15th the attack was launched. In the first four 
days 5,000 prisoners were taken but the ItaUans were halted. The 
Austrian lines were again bombarded and on October 10th, when 
the infantry advanced, 5,000 more prisoners were taken the first 
day. The tempestuous weather with continuous rains and constant 
mists made the offensive difficult from the very first in that rocky, 
mountainous region; after certain high ground, which menaced 
the enemy centre, had been captured together with numerous 
prisoners and batteries, the winter closed in postponing any further 
offensive till spring. 



Messines Ridge and Passchendaele 329 

During the winter months great preparations were made by 
the Italians, while the Austrians also made strenuous efforts to 
improve their positions. 

On May 12th the Italians began a bombardment of the Aus- 
trian front from Tolmino to the sea, in which British heavy artillery 
assisted. The great effort was made from Plava to Salcano. The 
battle continued until May 22d, the ItaHan armies under Cadorna 
proving successful everywhere. 

On May 23d between the Adriatic and the Carso a new 
attack, assisted by swarms of aeroplanes, began which captured 
the first and second enemy positions and netted 9,000 prisoners. 
The Itahans, however, had suffered greatly and by the end of the 
month their effort had ceased. Seventeen thousand prisoners were 
taken and twenty guns captured, while room for freer movement 
had been gained. 

On Jime 1st the Austrians launched a counter-offensive upon 
Hill 174 at TivoH, the crest of Vodice and other points. After 
varying fortunes the line settled down again with the loss to the 
Itahans of one-third of a mile to a mile on a three-mile front. 

This battle, fought among the intricate mountains and valleys 
of the Trentino and Cadore regions, presented difficulties which 
seemed insurmountable. The suffering endured by the heroic 
ItaHan armies and the numberless wonderful deeds accomplished 
by individual soldiers will probably only be found properly written 
up in ItaHan Hterature and romance. The western AlHes Httle 
understood the tremendous natural difficulties of the campaign 
which their ItaHan ally was undertaking, and that a gain of a 
hundred yards often meant more in that region than miles of 
territory elsewhere. When the battle ceased the army of Cadorna, 
everywhere successful, had won its way to a position from which 
the last barriers between Italy and the great Austrian seaport of 
Trieste were within sight. 

SIR JULIAN BYNG's HISTORIC ATTACK AT CAMBRAI 

On November 6th, with the captiu-e of Passchendaele by the 
Canadians, the long, bitter and costly struggle to break through 
the Ypres saHent to the coast drew to a close. The weather on 
most of the western British front made fm-ther action difficult, 
but the ItaHan struggle on the Piave River demanded the reHef 

19 



330 Canada's Sons in the World War 

of an allied diversion. The most suitable ground for this Sir 
Douglas Haig found in the rolling country opposite the Hinden- 
burg line in front of Havrincourt "Wood and eight miles from 
Cambrai. Tanks, which could not be employed in the mud of 
the Ypres saHent, could be used here with advantage. The key 
position to be taken was Bourlon Wood which, if captured and our 
flank protected, would enable us to dominate the enemy position 
in the southern part of the Drocourt-Queant line. 

The third army under Sir Juhan Byng, former commanding 
officer of the Canadian Corps, was to attack and for this piupose 
flotillas of tanks were assembled imder every bit of cover, particu- 
larly in Havrincourt Wood. On November 20th a single shot gave 
the signal and from the Bapaimie Road to GonneHeu a long row of 
tanks crawled forward while a dense smoke barrage blinded the 
enemy. While every British gun rained shells into the German 
lines the six attacking divisions moved leisurely forward, passing 
through the lanes rolled out in the wire. Machine-gun nests were 
quickly wiped out, the main Hindenburg line taken and by 10.30 
the reserve line had gone and British troops followed by cavalry 
were advancing to their objectives, except at three vital points 
not captured. It is of interest to note in passing that the important 
bridge at Masnieres having been destroyed, a temporary one was 
thrown across over which one squadron of the Fort Garry Horse 
of General Seely's Canadian brigade of the Fifth Cavalry division 
passed. Breaking through the Beaurevoir-Masnieres line the 
Fort Garrys charged and captured a German battery, cut up a body 
of three himdred German infantry and retired only when most 
of their horses had been killed or wounded. Had aU the cavalry 
been able to get across, since there was Httle between them and 
Cambrai, the battle might have ended very differently. 

On November 22d the positions necessary for a defensive 
flank, such as Rumilly, Crevecoeur and Bourlon Wood, had not 
been won and it was necessary to struggle forward or fall back. 
Meanwhile the Germans were bringing up reserves, something 
which Sir Douglas Haig could no longer obtain from his army, 
weakened by a season's continuous fighting. 

By November 27th we had taken 10,500 prisoners and 142 
guns while a saUent ten miles wide and six miles deep had been 
hewn out of the enemy's front; but the flanks were not secure. 



Messines Ridge and Passchendaele 331 

It was very necessary that the situation for the Germans should 
be retrieved in order to hold the confidence of the nation for the 
greater events impending and sixteen fresh German divisions 
were brought to the area. Ludendorff planned the great counter- 
attack according to his new tactics using twenty-four divisions for 
the purpose. 

On November 30th gas shells were rained on the British posi- 
tions and the enemy advancing through the mist overwhelmed 
our positions. The first British guns lost since the second battle 
of Ypres were taken at La Vacquerie. It was a serious affair, for 
the position in front of the saHent was turned in flank and rear 
and was saved only by the gallant Twenty-ninth division. Many 
units were isolated and died fighting to a man. In one case two 
London battahons counter-attacked using cooks, signallers, order- 
Hes and runners. In other cases in posts regained a couple of days 
later the British were found almost buried among German bodies. 
By December 3d the enemy's impetus was exhausted and on 
December 4th to 7th Sir Douglas Haig skillfully shortened his line 
so that the new front ran along the old Siegfried reserve line in 
the north, and west of Gonnelieu and Villers Guislain on the south, 
rejoining the old line at Vendhuille. 

By the end of the winter the Cambrai front had settled down 
to its normal condition. 



CHAPTER XXII 
Keeping Our Canadian Soldiers Fit 

A soldier eats his own weight in food about every thirty days 
and there is more truth than fiction in the statement that an army 
travels on its stomach. Poor food and reduced rations will take 
the heart out of an army very quickly, while plenty of good whole- 
some food is a tremendous factor in keeping an army healthy and 
in fighting trim. 

The problem of feeding an army is a never ending one. There 
could be no breakdown in the system of suppHes, for the army must 
be fed regularly under all conditions. Fleets of ships scoured the 
world in pursuit of supphes of food for the British army. Scores of 
ships loaded with fresh frozen beef, cheese, bacon, butter, and flour 
sailed from America to the British Isles every week. Other scores 
of ships mth mutton from Australia, beef from South America, 
sugar from the West Indies and other essentials carried their 
cargoes to supply rations for the British army. 

Scurvy no longer occius in warring armies. Though the 
rations consisted of staple nutritious foods, and fresh vegetables 
because of their bulk could not be issued, provision was made for 
the pm^chase of accessory foods. The ration ofiicially issued was 
so Hberal that it could not be consumed and the excess ration was 
seldom actually issued. But for the rations not issued credit was 
allowed so that fruit, fresh vegetables, sweets and other extra 
luxuries could be purchased. The British commissariat kept on 
hand a great variety of luxuries which the various army messes 
could purchase with the credits allowed them. Organizations like 
the Canadian Contingent Association and other similar organizations 
also provided extras to the troops in the field, all of which helped 
to vary the monotony of the regular diet. 

Beef and bacon are the two kinds of meat that can be eaten by 
the soldier day after day for months at a time without getting tired 
of them and these are the two ration meats used in the British 
army. That is why the price of beef and bacon soared sky high in 

^532) 



Keeping Our Canadian Soldiers Fit 333 

Canada during the war. The army had first call on the supply 
and there was not enough left to go round. 

Wheat bread is always a staple in the diet of the British soldier 
and huge bakeries at the British base tiu^ned out tens of thousands 
of loaves a day. It was common gossip at the front in 1916 that 
the chief baker at the base had received the Mihtary Cross — thereby 
testifying to the importance of his work. Sugar was also found to 
be an excellent food and was added to the soldiers^ dietary, chiefly 
in the form of jam. Cheese also was a great standby and consti- 
tuted part of the ration. Maconachie ration — a canned Irish stew — 
beans, peas, dried potatoes, rice and, when obtainable locally, 
fresh vegetables, gave variety to the diet. 

In the British army portable cookers on wheels accompanied 
the army units on the march. A meal could be started before camp 
was left and kept cooking on the march so that when the unit 
stopped, a steaming hot meal was all ready to serve. 

CLOTHING AN IMPORTANT FACTOR 

The British army was undoubtedly the best fed, best equipped 
and healthiest army that has ever taken the field since the beginning 
of time. The uniform was warm and of the best quality. Under- 
clothes of wool, flannel shirts, woolen cardigan jackets, sweaters 
and balaclava caps were issued when desii-ed and the blankets were 
of good quality. In winter rubber capes were issued to all, while 
rubber hip boots, or waders, were supphed to the men in the trenches. 
All drivers were issued with rubber coats and sou'wester hats. The 
expense of these waterproof supphes was very great, but expense 
was nothing to the British army where pneumonia and death were 
concerned. The health of the army was the great desideratum and 
every effort was made to prevent unnecessary sickness. The first 
Americans landed in France, equipped with canvas clothing, nearly 
froze to death and were outfitted with British woolen shoddy 
which had been found by experience to be the only kind of clothing 
suitable to the damp, cold, penetrating climate of northern France. 

RECREATION AND RELAXATION 

But a soldier needs other things than good food, warm clothing 
and equipment to keep him well and happy. He has a brain and 
that brain has to be exercised Hke his other physical faculties. 



334 Canada's Sons in the World War 

When men have been under the strain of the front line trenches, the 
monotony of heavy fatigue work and the long dreary spells of cold 
and wet he must have relaxation of some sort, an opportunity to 
play games and have a good laugh. The British soldier was not 
like the French poilu. You did not see him sitting aroimd in the 
little villages in groups of three to a dozen or more smoking cigar- 
ettes and discussing with great volubiHty questions of practical or 
theoretical interest as was the custom of the French soldier. 

But he loved getting and writing letters. You saw him stand- 
ing in front of candy stores trying, like the boy he was, to decide 
what he would buy. You saw him playing football and baseball 
with great enthusiasm or cheering for his own team. And he 
loved the movie shows and concert companies that helped to 
brighten his evenings out of the line. 

Everywhere in the army area were found the Y. M. C. A. 
huts or tents. There duriag the day the soldier found the huts 
filled with little tables at which he could read or write letters. A 
good supply of newspapers, magazines and books was always kept 
on hand, while each Y. M. C. A. hut operated a canteen where 
coffee, sweet stuffs, soft drinks and other delicacies not supplied 
by the army could be obtained. 

In the Y. M. C. A. huts concerts and iQustrated lectures were 
given, while practical talks on Christianity and other topics of 
interest to the thinking soldier, aided by sing-songs, were fre- 
quently held. Educational classes ia French, Hterature, history 
and other subjects were given to those interested. 

Supplementing the Y. M. C. A. huts were the Salvation Army 
huts and Church Army huts with somewhat similar piuposes. 

The entertainment features, though frequently provided by 
local talent, by no means depended upon volunteers. In England 
an entertainment bureau was organized which sent out concert 
companies, entertainers, prominent professional men and scientists 
on regular tours along the front. Some of the greatest authorities 
in Great Britaia on subjects such as aeronautics, law, naval affairs, 
history, philosophy and English Hterature contributed gladly to 
these courses. 

In athletics, every unit had its football team, sprinters, boxers 
and other athletes, always ready to meet their rivals in the field 
days frequently held behind the line. Boxing tournaments were 



Keeping Our Canadian Soldiers Fit 335 

always wonderfully well patronized by thousands of soldiers, 
experts on that national pastime. 

Numerous band concerts were given at the front. Each 
regiment, as a rule, had some sort of a band to help Ughten the 
weary road. The effect of music upon exhausted soldiers on the 
march was wonderful. To see a regiment of soldiers in heavy 
marching order plodding along the rough pave roads in Flanders 
and then to see them brace up and step out with renewed life when 
the music struck up was to convince one that an army band was a 
real godsend. The British and Canadian soldier loved music and 
wherever a band concert was to take place every man who was able 
treked to the square or the field where the concert was to be held, 
and usually stood in silence till the concert was over. It was, 
perhaps, one of the most characteristic Enghsh features of a people 
who had a band in every village and town and who truly loved music. 

WATER SPORTS 

One of the most interesting and imique events that I saw 
was a regatta held on a canal in the village of Merville one spring 
Simday afternoon. Overhead aeroplanes droned on their daily 
routine and in the distance the field gims cracked in the desultory 
fashion of that period. 

Gathered along the banks of the stream were the villagers 
in their Sunday-best clothes mingled with crowds of British soldiers. 
Opposite the finishing line sat the Mayor and the judges including 
the Director of Medical Services of the district, while behind them 
was seated a scratch village band. 

Promptly at 2.30 the regatta commenced with an open swim- 
ming race. Then there followed high diving contests, long dives, 
swimming under water, walking the greasy pole and tub races. 
The most interesting of all was a sort of gladiatorial contest. Two 
huge boats, heavily built and with high projecting bows, approached 
each other at full speed. Each barge was manned by several 
oarsmen,. one man to an oar, while on the bow stood a half naked 
soldier armed with a long pole on the end of which was bound a 
huge swab covered with leather. When the barges came within 
striking distance the two contestants tilted ferociously at one 
another with their lances, but missed, and the boats came together 
with a crash that nearly threw the contestants into the stream. 



336 Canada's Sons in the World War 

Then followed a furious battle; the boats were securely locked 
together and the two gladiators punched and struck with their 
shortened weapons until one, fetching the other a neat back slap 
under the ear, precipitated him into the canal amid cheers and 
roars of laughter. 

We went home refreshed in body and spirit and on many a 
tiresome day I looked back upon that Sunday afternoon "VNdth a great 
deal of pleasure and amusement. Doubtless there were hundreds of 
others who extracted as much enjoyment from the regatta as had I. 
And that is why contests, sports and competitions meant so much to 
the man in the field, not altogether for what he got out of them at 
the time but for the pleasure he got in looking backward and thinking 
of them when times were more or less dark and dreary. 

FIELD DAYS BEHIND THE LINES 

Much ingenuity was employed in getting up some of these field 
days behind the lines. On one occasion the Second Canadian brigade 
gave an afternoon of sports. There were the usual preliminaries — 
boxing, wrestling on horseback, novelty races — to the real event, a 
circus parade. Hundreds of soldiers in costume took part led by 
three band-wagons and a wonderfully attired ringmaster. Wild men 
and women in chains, and a general in chains on floats, could not 
rival the one which depicted the return of the Canadians after the 
war. A group of men wdth snoT\y beards reaching to theirwaists and 
with arms covered to the shoulders vnth woimd stripes sat upon a 
raft with a tree stump for a mast. All struggled desperately at the 
oars while the steersman at the stem manipulated a chopper as a 
rudder. '^Canada or bust " was the motto suspended from the mast. 

On another occasion at the sports of the Canadian Corps in 
France about 50,000 soldiers attended. The meet was held in a 
sort of huge national amphitheatre, special stands were erected for 
officers and detailed arrangements made to feed the multitude. 
One of the most interesting features of this meet was the fact that 
men met scores of friends whom they had not met for months and 
years past and all voted it a huge success. 

LEAVE TO BLIGHTY 

Provision was made in the British army for men and oflicers to 
obtain leave, usually for a week or ten days, to England. It had a 




IN THE SLOUGH OF THE SOMME 

Rescuino; a comrade from a shell-hole. 



Keeping Our Canadian Soldiers Fit 339 

wonderful effect in getting rid of the staleness which sooner or later 
gripped all men at the front. The few days of relaxation away from 
the sound of the guns amid surroundings of cleanliness and comfort 
rejuvenated the men and sent them back prepared for another 
spell at fighting the Hun. 

BATHS 

The greatest luxury at the front was a hot bath, and these 
were provided in every divisional area on the British front. Three 
or four miles behind the trenches in the rest areas, m places where 
a plentiful supply of water could be obtained, the army had estab- 
lished bath houses. Sometimes a brewery, or part of it, was taken 
over for this purpose because the breweries all had deep wells from 
which a plentiful supply of water could be obtained. If the bath 
house was in a brewery they utiHzed the large beer barrels cut 
in two for baths. These were filled with cold water and live steam 
tm^ned into the water to warm it. 

Most of the bath houses were in improvised shacks built upon 
the edge of creeks or ponds. The water was pumped into an 
elevated reservoir and usually heated by means of a threshing 
machine boiler, rented or purchased from some neighbouring farmer. 
One section of the shack was divided off for a bathroom with a 
number of showers and the other rooms devoted to the receiving of 
dirty clothing, storing clean clothing, washing, di-ying and sterilizing. 

At the bath house a certain number, say twenty men, passed 
into the first room where they undressed. Their underclothes and 
shirts were thrown to one side to be w^ashed; their uniforms were 
hung on numbered racks and placed in the disinfection chamber 
where they were immediately treated with hve steam or dry heat, 
or they were taken into an adjoining room where the seams were 
ironed with hot irons to destroy '' cooties." 

The men then passed into the bathroom where they were 
given about ten minutes to luxuriate in plenty of hot water and 
soap. As they passed out of the bath through another room they 
were given clean socks, underclothes and shirts, and by the time 
they were dressed their own uniforms, disinfected, were handed 
back to them. The whole operation took from twenty-five to thirty 
minutes, and from a thousand to fifteen hundred men were put 
through each bath house in a day. 



340 Canada's Sons in the World War 

The discarded clothes were washed by local peasant women 
paid by the army. In oner of these estabhshments there were 
160 Belgian peasant women engaged in this work. Mending was 
also done by them, while socks and clothes too far gone to be mended 
were packed in bundles and sent away to be sold. 

The waste wash water from the baths and laundries entering 
the creeks naturally caused trouble to troops down stream who 
had to use it. Horses would not touch the soapy water, and the 
brewers objected to making beer with it. 

Consequently the sanitary officers were in many cases com- 
pelled to put in tanks to treat this dirty water and purify it. This 
was usually done by adding an excess of chloride of lime, which 
precipitated the soap as a curd and carried the dirt down with it. 
By sedimentation, and filtration through canvas, cinders and sand, 
the water was clarified and turned into the creeks again clean. 



CHAPTER XXIII 
The United States in the War 

The United States of America had always clung to the policy 
of the Monroe Doctrine, which was very dear to her — a poHcy which 
would not permit of any entangling foreign alHance or interference 
in any European dispute. It was a principle that had as its founda- 
tion the belief that the United States was not necessarily one of 
the great community operations and could therefore pursue its own 
course irrespective of its great world neighbours. 

The Americans had from the beginning of the war steadily 
endeavoured to secure a maritime code that would ensure to all 
nations the freedom of the seas, and had tried to secure a judicial 
settlement of the military disputes between the combatant nations. 

Slowly they learned the bitter truth that no nation, like no man, 
can hve unto himself alone. They learned that there could be no 
such thing as freedom on the seas unless they did their share of 
winning the war on land, that the power that worshipped Force 
had to be beaten with force, and that they had to help compel the 
savages of Europe to put up their swords. The agents that enhght- 
ened the American people, that made them reaUze the true situation 
and ultimately made them throw in their lot with the AUies worked 
slowly but surely. 

The ravishing of Belgium convinced most thinking Americans 
that Germany was a menace to civiUzation. The German claim 
that the United States had no business to sell munitions to the Allies 
irritated American opinion. The sinking of the Lusitania brought 
home the conviction that persistence in such a poHcy must inevitably 
result in war. The conspiracies carried on by official agents of the 
Central Powers stung American pride to the very quick. Through- 
out the length and breadth of the United States, and even in depart- 
ments of the Government, German and Austrian accredited agents 
operated, bought and subsidized papers to arouse feelings of bitter- 
ness for and distrust of the Allies, and embroil the country in war; 
incited insurrection in Cuba, Haiti and Santo Domingo; stirred up 

(341) 



342 Canada's Sons in the World War 

discord in South America; blew up bridges, munition works and 
other vital works, and in general endeavom-ed by every known 
means to keep the United States from entering the war against them 
and minimize her assistance to the aUied cause as much as possible. 

The comphcated negotiations which took place between Berlin 
and Washington resulted in a promise from Germany that ships 
would not be sunk on the high seas without warning. To the 
casual observer, it might seem as though the matter had been settled. 
But two opinions had steadily developed in America as a result of 
these various controversies, both championed by prominent men. 

Mr. Ehhu Root and Mr. Theodore Roosevelt were strongly 
of the opinion that this war was Americans war and that the AUies 
were fighting for America's interests and the maintenance of pubUc 
right. To this group the disputes with Great Britain as to her 
naval pohcy were of no import because Great Britain was waging a 
war for the rights of humanity including America. 

The champion of the other school was President Wilson. He 
desired to make this the last war fought under the old conditions 
of international isolation and desired to create a League to Enforce 
Peace — a league which would poHce the world for the sake of 
international justice. 

Shortly after the Presidential election of 1916 in which Wilson 
had been returned to power on the imderstanding that he would 
pursue his poHcy of keeping America out of the war, the German 
U-boat activity revived, and Germany, poiuting to her conquests, 
threw out feelers for a peace based on those victories. President 
Wilson, now assured of power and pledged to the poHcy of a League 
of Nations, saw that America's hour was about to strike. To clear 
the air, Wilson sentliotes inviting the belhgerent nations to define 
their aims. The fact was thereby estabUshed that opinion in the 
United States was clearly the same as the opinion of the Alhes, 
and therefore antagonistic to that of the Central Powers. On 
January 22d, 1917, the President in an eloquent speech set forth 
the terms of a peace which could be guaranteed by America. 

A week later, on January 31st, Germany informed the United 
States that she intended to enter upon an unrestricted submarine 
campaign. On the 3d of February the American Ambassador at 
Berlin was recalled and the German Ambassador to America 
handed his passport. 



The United States in the War 343 

The President in a speech to both Houses announced the 
severance of diplomatic relations with Germany, but stated that 
only actual overt acts would convince him of Germany's hostile 
purpose. He ended with a solemn declaration that if such occurred, 
he would ask Congress for power to take any steps necessary for the 
protection of the American people. 

As a result of the German decree, American passenger ships 
were deterred from sailing to Europe. Though only a couple of 
American ships were sunk, an intolerable situation was created for 
a great and independent people such as the Americans were. 
President Wilson, therefore, on February 26th, asked Congress for 
authority to arm American ships for defensive purposes. The 
authority was granted by the House of Representatives but was 
held up by a pacifist element in the Senate until the session closed. 
An overwhelming majority of the Senate, however, signed a mani- 
festo in favor of the bill. 

On February 26th the Laconia was sunk and eight Americans 
drowned. On March 1st an order issued by Zimmerman, the 
German Under Secretary for Foreign Affairs, to the German Min- 
ister in Mexico, was published. It suggested that in the event of 
war breaking out between Germany and the United States, Mexico 
would receive financial aid from the German Government if she 
would form an alhance with Germany. The states of Texas, 
Arizona and New Mexico would be given Mexico as a bribe if she 
would undertake an invasion of the United States. It was under- 
stood also that Japan would be invited to break faith with the 
Entente Alhes and declare war against America. 

Such proposals inspired a deep resentment in the Western 
States where the U-boat campaign was least understood. Prac- 
tically all thoughtful Americans now reahzed that the policy of 
armed neutrahty was impossible. 

On March 12th an order was issued that merchant ships 
should be armed. On March 16th the Vigilancia, with five Ameri- 
cans on board, was sunk. Next day the City of Mewphis and the 
Illinois were sent to the bottom. On the 21st, seven Americans 
perished when the Healdton was torpedoed off Holland, and on 
April 1st, twenty-eight Americans went down with the Aztec, 

The defiance was so clear that American feeling against Ger- 
many reached fever heat. On April 2d, President Wilson, at a 



344 Canada's Sons in the World War 

joint session of the two Houses of Congress summarized the situation 
in a message that will rank with the greatest of America's many great 
ofl&cial speeches. He said in part: 

There is one choice we cannot make, we are incapable of making: 
we will not choose the path of submission and suffer the most sacred 
rights of our nation and our people to be ignored or violated. The wrongs 
against which we now array ourselves are not common wrongs; they cut 
to the very roots of human life. 

With a profound sense of the solemn and even tragical character of the 
step I am taking and of the grave responsibilities which it involves, but 
in unhesitattDg obedience to what I deem my constitutional duty, I advise 
that the Congress declare the recent course of the Imperial German Gov- 
ernment to be in fact nothing less than war against the Government and 
people of the United States; that it formally accept the status of beUigerent 
which has thus been thrust upon it; and that it take immediately steps 
not only to put the country in a more thorough state of defence, but also 
to exert all its power and employ all its resources to bring the Government 
of the German Empire to terms and end the war. 

The message of the President was received with great enthusi- 
asm by Congress and by the country at large. Though the debate 
revealed some opposition, opinion was vastly in favor of war, and 
on April 4th the Senate passed the war resolution by 82 votes to 6. 
On April 6th by a majority of 373 votes to 50 the House of Repre- 
sentatives passed the same resolution. 

Perhaps no speech so succinctly epitomized the general feeling 
of the true American as the speech of the Representative from 
Illinois, Mr. Foss. 

As a reward for our neutrahty what have we received at the hands of 
William II? He has set the torch of the incendiary to our factories, our 
work-shops, our ships and our wharves. He has laid the bomb of the 
assassin in our munition plants and the holds of our ships. He has sought 
to corrupt om* manhood with a selfish dream of peace, when there is no 
peace. He has wilfully butchered our citizens on the high seas. He has 
destroyed our commerce. He seeks to terrorize us with his devihsh poKcy 
of frightfulness. He has violated every canon of international decency, 
and set at nought every solemn treaty and every precept of international 
law. He has plunged the world into the maddest orgy of blood, rapine 
and murder which history records. He has intrigued against our peace 
at home and abroad. He seeks to destroy our civilization. Patience is 
no longer a virtue, further endurance is cowardice, submission to Prussian 
demands is slavery. 

The unrestricted submarine warfare could have had no other 






OS 
O 










345 



346 Canada's Sons in the World War 

result (with a proud people) than war. The United States policy 
of armed neutrahty was bound to end in a clash, and the arming of 
merchant ships manned by crews from the navy was but a step 
towards the inevitable. Accordingly the Naval Department worked 
at high speed making preparations for active service, gathering 
fully complements of men for their ships and hastening the construc- 
tion of new vessels. 

When the United States entered the war on April 6, 1917, 
a Council of National Defence was formed which acted as the great 
centre for organizing and co-ordinating all agencies and industries 
essential for the efficient prosecution of the war. To the high 
executive offices men of the highest ability in the country were 
appointed at the nominal salary of a dollar a year. The nation 
decided to raise an army of 4,000,000 men by the sj^-stem known as 
the ^'Selective Draft" and, as in England, the arming, equipping 
and transportation of that host was quickly reahzed to be a task 
infinitely greater and more difficult than had been at first 
anticipated. 

The United States had one enormous advantage in that it 
had the experience of the Allies during nearly three years of war. 
The AUies had made many mistakes and had learned a great deal 
through the bitter experience of failure. Naturally they were 
anxious that their great new ally should not waste effort or duplicate 
methods which had already proved unsatisfactory, and therefore 
sent over experts in every branch of warfare to give them the 
benefit of their experience. This meant a great deal, and the 
United States evinced an eagerness to eliminate the mistakes of 
others and become efficient in every field that was remarkable. 

The problems of the United States were no simple ones. The 
foreign population constituted a large per cent of the total popula- 
tion, and its mixed character may be gauged from the fact that 
American censors were required to know forty-seven languages. 

When the United States had therefore fully made up its mind, 
there was no further truck with any antagonistic foreign element; 
German capital invested in American industries was placed under 
the jurisdiction of the AHen Property Custodian. Wireless appa- 
ratus was all put under government control; 109 German ships, of 
which great numbers had been interned, were seized and converted 
into transports. 



The United States in the War 347 

Nothing surprised the Germans more than the passmg of the 
Draft Act, because such legislation was known to be opposed to 
American principles. But the Draft Act stands to-day as a monu- 
ment to the United States, for the people entered into it and co-oper- 
ated with it until it was made a shining and brilHant success. 

The United States had entered the struggle with very few 
laws to protect the people. They had great difficulty in getting 
proper measures, and it was only after the country had been in the 
war six months that the necessary legislation was provided. But 
it was found possible to perform the work with Httle new legislation. 
The country came through the conffict without a single drastic 
change in the law and without any military tribunals. The civil 
authorities had totally suppressed enemy propaganda and sedition 
while maintaining good order and government throughout the land. 

One of the laws that proved most valuable in handling a 
difficult situation was one enacted one hundred and twenty-five 
years ago called the Internment Act, which provided the President 
with power to deal with ahens as he saw fit. It had been entirely 
forgotten by the great majority of legislators and completely over- 
looked by the German spies in their nefarious work and its ramifi- 
cations. But it came about that the President authorized the 
Attorney-General to administer the so-called ahen enemy proc- 
lamations. The act was not reviewable by the courts and it 
cleared the United States of all hostile propaganda and hostile 
activities. 

When the United States entered the war the Government 
expected all kinds of lawlessness and crime on the part of the 
alien enemies and their spies, but they did not occur. The Intern- 
ment Act was enforced with the utmost severity and proved the 
great power in stamping out German activity. It regulated the 
conduct of every alien enemy in the country and protected the 
entire seaboard from the Gulf of Mexico to Vancouver. It required 
all ahen enemies who were not interned to obtain photographic 
passes, and in all, 900,000 of these documents were issued. The 
law worked with such perfection that immediately an ahen enemy 
showed himself at any port in the United States he was placed 
under arrest and promptly interned. Strangely enough it was the 
civil power that protected the army bases. 

The Internment Act broke up the enemy intrigues, and it worked 



348 Canada's Sons in the World War 

with astounding effect in one of the most extraordinary conglomera- 
tions of humanity that had ever been met in any land. It made 
absolutely no distinction in the standing of persons charged or 
suspected, and immediately the information was received the 
accused was placed under arrest. Anyone beUeved to be a menace 
was interned without delay and in quick time the great bulk of the 
spies that infested the continent at the outbreak of the war were 
lodged in the jails and internment camps of the country. 

Great efforts were made to speed up the building of ships 
and increase the number of shipyards. The production of muni- 
tions was increased at a marvellous rate. Great plans were made 
to evolve a fleet of 20,000 aeroplanes, while practical plans to increase 
the production of food and prevent all unnecessary waste of food- 
stuffs were rapidly put into force. 

The war had become popular in America and the whole country 
raUied to the support of the Government in a way that was grati- 
fying to all concerned. Action taken to reduce railway travel and 
thereby enable more freight to be carried, to conserve gasoline, to 
save fuel and hght, to adopt compulsory rationing and other 
measures received the hearty and united approval of the people. 

Billions of dollars for war purposes were voted without oppo- 
sition; increased taxation was met with cheerfulness, and huge war 
loans were raised by the Government from the investment of the 
pubHc in war bonds. 

The American democracy was wilhng to accept more or less 
autocratic conditions without a murmiu", reahzing that to get the 
best and quickest results the administration during a war must be 
in the hands of the few. 

The U-boat campaign had been steadily reducing the carrying 
capacity of the allied fleets and the United States reahzed that her 
obligations lay with her Alhes — that it was just as necessary to 
keep the alHed armies and the alhed peoples fed as it was to raise 
an army. 

The original American Government plan was to have 5,000,000 
men under arms before the middle of 1919. The first selective 
service law conscripted men between the ages of twenty-one and 
thirty-one inclusive. On the first registration day, June 5, 1917, 
9,586,508 men were enrolled and from these by the selective method 
625,000 men were drawn. Under the second selective service legis- 



The United States in the War 349 

lation 13,000,000 citizens between the ages of eighteen and forty- 
five, inclusive, were enrolled on September 12, 1918. Youths under 
nineteen years of age were placed in a group to be called last, and 
men between thirty-six and forty-five were put in a deferred class. 
When the armistice was signed the United States had actually 
4,000,000 men under arms. 

The first actual participation of Americans in the war occurred 
when an American destroyer escorted a large Atlantic finer through 
the danger zone. Shortly after that Admiral Sims, with a fleet of 
American destroyers, arrived at Queenstown just twenty-eight days 
after war had been declared. A great reception was given to the 
American flotilla. The streets were decorated with the Stars and 
Stripes and the sailors hospitably entertained. 

One of the first great problems to be solved was that of pro- 
ducing more tonnage in ships than the German submarines were 
sinking. The submarine blockade was proving to be a real menace: 
huge quantities of food, munitions and material destined for the 
AUies were being sent to the bottom daily. No neutral nation was 
immune and Norwegian, Dutch, Spanish and other ships met the 
same fate. England depended absolutely on her shipping and 
Germany was making a desperate effort to starve her. Since much 
of Great Britain's suppHes were carried in neutral ships Germany 
reafized that in pm*suing this policy, she was staking her last card, 
and struck out in a wild frenzy that brought upon her the wrath 
of the whole neutral world. 

The United States had neglected shipbuilding in recent 
years and many ships were needed. The American Government 
immediately appropriated $1,135,000,000 for the purpose of ship 
building. Delays were caused through division of authority and 
progress was not as rapid as expected. In the spring of 1918 the 
Director General of the Emergency Fleet Corporation speeded up 
production, so that at the end of the first year the Government had 
gathered up two and three-quarters miUion tons of shipping. In 
the year previous to the war, only a quarter of a million tons of 
shipping was turned out in the country. During the month of 
May, 1918, more than that quantity was being turned out. 

This result was only possible through the patriotic stand of the 
American Federation of Labour. Occasional strikes occurred that 
were readily settled and the high wages paid enabled the worker 



350 Canada's Sons in the World War 

to live as he never had before. There was a moderate amount of 
trouble caused by the anarchistic foreign element but this was 
easily controlled. 

In the effort to rush additional material and food to the Atlantic 
ports after war had been declared, immediate trouble developed on 
the railroads. The United States Government had not, like Great 
Britain many years before the war, worked out the problem of 
mobilization with the railway authorities. Even before the entry 
of the United States, thousands of loaded cars accumulated at the 
comparatively few shipping points, while after war was declared 
the congestion rapidly increased. This situation was complicated 
by the necessity of moving hundreds of thousands of soldiers to 
camps as well as the material to build the camps. Government 
officials, by the abuse of the system of priority tags, further hindered 
progress and created a difficult situation. Failing to find a satis- 
factory solution anywhere the President, at the end of December, 
1917, took over the entire transportation systems of the United 
States through authority derived from an act of Congress, and 
placed them under a Director General of Railroads. It was a 
fine illustration of the fact that the Government desired efficiency 
above all else, for to take over 441 corporations employing 1,600,000 
men and worth $17,500,000,000 was a gigantic venture. 

The immediate result of the President's action was that coal 
moved to the districts needing it most, thereby keeping production 
of war materials going; wheat began flowing in a steady stream from 
the West to Atlantic ports for shipment to the Allies, and, in general, 
a wonderful addition to the strength of the alHed cause was brought 
about by this bold arrangement. 

Little did any one dream that a war in Eiu^ope would induce 
the greatest democracy in the world to adopt an autocratic action 
without parallel. Not only did the railway companies, including 
perhaps some of the most powerful corporations in the world, accept 
the situation, but the action met with the universal approval of 
the people. 

Following this the American Government took over the control 
of all telegraph, telephone, radio and cable lines for the duration of 
the war. 

To handle the immense problem of transporting the huge 
American army to France, it was necessary to build new terminals, 



The United States in the War 351 

new docks, and new supply bases both in America and in France. 
The ships necessary for the actual transport were not available, 
and over half of the army had to be carried in British ships. 

To the Allies, June 25th was a memorable day, for on that 
day the first American troops landed in France. The American 
regular army was naturally small, consisting of some 190,000 troops, 
and it was necessary to distribute these among the new troops then 
being trained in America. 

General Pershing, the American commander-in-chief, was an 
expert soldier with years of campaigning in the Mexican and 
Spanish wars. The regular American army staff were highly 
trained professionals, perhaps equal to any in the world. And 
when it was announced that American soldiers had landed in France 
the AlHes, particularly the French people, heaved a vast sigh of 
rehef . It was proof that the United States was in the war, that the 
Russian defection had not made the situation on the western front 
hopeless, and that ultimate victory was assured to the Allies. It 
was natural that these Hthe,lean young men with the springy walk of 
the Canadian, New Zealander and AustraKan, should have received 
a welcome such as only the French people can give. They were the 
vanguard of an army of millions from the great sister RepubHc 
that could and would, if necessity demanded it, put fifteen miUions 
of men in the field. 



CHAPTER XXIV 
The Russian Revolution 

Rasputin — ^meaning ''dirty dog'' — of peasant Siberian stock, 
had in his youth been famous as a horse thief, perjurer, drunkard 
and hbertine. Upon these quahfications he had grafted that of a 
religious ascetic, wearing a hair shirt and performing miracles. 
He started a new cult where dancing and debauchery were mixed 
with mystic seances, and his uncanny power over women soon 
gave him a great following. 

This scoundrel, the like of whom does not often appear out- 
side of the pages of a novel, finally gained access to the imperial 
family in Petrograd and became a sort of royal medicine man 
to the Russian court. 

His chief passion, after drink and women, was gold and it 
quickly became apparent that the quickest road to high office 
was to bribe Rasputin. Fashionable women, ministers and dig- 
nitaries of the church waited in his antechamber. 

He stood for all that was dark, ignorant and brutal in Russia, 
and had much to do with the retirement of the Grand Duke Nicholas, 
who openly despised him. Princes of the royal blood appealed to 
the Czar and Czarina to tear themselves loose from his influence 
and were promptly exiled for their pains. 

As is usual in such cases, he created an army of enemies. He 
had frequently been assaulted and beaten but ciu"iously enough 
escaped death at the hands of his enemies, who were chiefly of the 
upper classes. 

At last he became so alarmed that he would interview only 
those who had been seen first by his bodyguard and finally kept 
himself in hiding. 

His end came one night when he was invited out to a supper 
party, was plied with poisoned wine which failed to work, and 
was eventually shot and thrown into the river. The whole country 
applauded the deed which was regarded as a judicial execution. 

It was the preliminary to the Russian revolution. 

(352) 



The Russian Revolution 353 

The session of the Duma in November, 1916, with its attacks 
upon the administration, had passed by apparently without result. 
Prince Gohtzin had been appointed premier, and M. Protopopov, 
the chief agent of reaction, had increased his activities 

But underneath therewere forces workingwhichwere destined to 
bring about such an upheaval as the modern world had never seen. 

Opposed to the court circle with its corrupt influences, secret 
police affiliations and underworld methods of oppression, there 
had gradually come together another set of forces, composed of 
the reasonable elements in Russian hfe. These included the 
Duma, the united nobility, the Council of the Empire, together with 
the extreme Sociahsts who, however, had not the same objectives. 
With the better forces the army was in full sympathy. 

With the aid of the stir caused by the murder of Rasputin 
the ^'Dark Forces" of Russia hoped to bring on an abortive revo- 
lution, whose suppression by every known method of terror would 
enthrone those sinister influences for another century. They had 
forgotten the struggle with Germany and considered only their 
own selfish interests and the perpetuation of their barbaric pre- 
rogatives. 

The just fate of Rasputin postponed the assembling of the 
Duma for another month, to give, it was said, the new Premier 
time to consider his poHcy. Meanwhile the censorship tightened, 
the police became interested in all private meetings, and the 
general congress of the Zemstovs and the Union of Towns was 
forbidden. Machine guns intended for the army were established 
all over Petrograd and the secret police was vastly increased. 

Endeavours were now made to force along the revolution 
which was to re-estabhsh the reactionaries in power, but the 
people seemed not to desire it. On February 27th the Duma met 
and everything went quietly. In the streets of Petrograd strag- 
gling processions of people wandered about begging for food for 
their children, while others waited in long queues for the daily 
bread ration which grew more difficult to obtain. The transport 
system of Russia, under the strain of war had broken down, and 
the export of grain from parts of the country where there was 
plenty, to others where there was none was prohibited. Every- 
where there were the Social Democrats to blame the Government 
which made such a condition possible. 



354 Canada's Sons in the World War 

On March 8th, while the Duma was discussmg the food situa- 
tion, some bakers^ shops were broken into in the poorer quarters 
of Petrograd. It was the beginning of the revolution. 

Next day all Petrograd was on the qui vive. Everybody 
appeared on the streets expecting something to happen. Cossack 
soldiers were cheered but the pohce were stoned and some shooting 
resulted. Two workmen who had been arrested were rescued by 
a band of Cossacks and turned over to their friends. There was 
little poHtical speech-making and appeals for moderation were 
heard on every hand. Next day the crowds were denser and the 
talk was of a more serious character. 

The Government had either to satisfy the people or threaten 
them. They did the latter. A proclamation was issued announc- 
ing that the poHce would disperse crowds, and workmen not 
returning to v/ork would be sent to the front. The crowds con- 
tinued to gather with the result that some two hundred were 
killed. One regiment mutinied when told to fire upon the people. 
The President of the Duma, M. Rodzianko, telegraphed the 
Emperor describing the situation and stating that a new govern- 
ment enjoying the confidence of the people should be formed at 
once. Copies of the telegram were sent to the army chiefs asking 
for their support. The Premier, Gohtzin, prorogued the Duma with 
the consent of the Emperor, but the Duma refused to be prorogued 
and constituted itself the sole constitutional authority of Russia. 
Next day the soldiers were ordered to ^e upon the mob; they 
refused and shot their most unpopular oflSicers. Other regiments 
sent to coerce them joined the mutineers. Twenty-five thousand 
soldiers variously composed of Russians, Ukrainians, Poles, Finns 
and Ruthenians swept from place to place while prisons were 
stormed, prisoners released, the law courts set on ^re, and the 
hives of the poHce smoked out. 

A second telegram to the Czar brought the reply that he was 
bringing troops to quell the revolution and had turned over the 
army to the command of Ivanov. The Duma itself did not seem 
to fully realize the situation but elected an executive committee 
of twelve men to act as a provisional government. 

Another committee, however, had been formed of workmen 
and social revolutionaries, which speedily gained a hearing. Every 
regiment that entered Petrograd went over to the revolution at 







Xfl .g 



2 ^ 

o3 



2 



pd o 

o 

bfi 

02 

03 






The Russian Revolution 357 

once, and it quickly became apparent that the revolution had 
nothing to fear from the army. 

The Committee of Twelve, who were moderates, tried to 
keep in harmony with the extremists of the Council of Labor. 
Everywhere was a babel of talk, argument and discussion of plans 
for the future. Moscow had accepted the revolution and the 
Czar was expected at any time. _ 

On the 13th of March the first murders of a revolting char- 
acter were carried out upon members of the poHce force. On 
March 14th the interest had practically centred in the relationship 
between the Executive Committee of the Duma and the Council 
of Workmen's and Soldiers' Delegates — the Soviet — now so famihar 
to the world. The power was divided between these two bodies 
and it looked as if there might be civil war. Appeals by both 
were sent broadcast, among them one by the SociaHsts abolishing 
saluting and assuming authority to countermand the orders of 
the War Committee. The Duma issued an appeal calculated to 
attract the thinking man, but the appeals of the proletariat caught 
the fancy of hundreds of thousands of men who had tasted freedom 
for the first time in their Hves. 

On March 14th the Czar tried to reach Petrograd but his train 
was held up and later ia the day, on the advice of the Duma and 
his guards, including the Grand Duke Nicholas, the Czar abdi- 
cated ia favor of his brother as Regent. 

The Moderates desired a constitutional monarchy; the Council 
of Workmen's and Soldiers' Delegates clamoured for a republic. 
A coahtion formed of representatives of all parties narrowly escaped 
disintegration when it was announced that a Regent had been 
appointed, but was saved by Kerenski. The Soviet, by a vote of 
1,000 to 15 endorsed the new provisional government which then 
entered into office. On March 16th the Grand Duke Michael 
resigned the Regency, thus terminating the Romanof dynasty. 
The mediaeval autocracy of Russia which had no place in the 
modern world collapsed from internal corruption. The revolution 
succeeded because there were none to defend the old regime. 

On April 13th the first meeting of the Congress of Soviets 
from all over Russia was held. Though in favour of continuing the 
war the congress refused to permit the continuation of army dis- 
cipUne. The Bolsheviki (radical Socialist) minority, under Lenine, 



358 Canada's Sons in the World War 

demanded an immediate cessation of hostilities in order to get on 
with their class warfare. There is no doubt that Russia's sufferings 
had been the most prolonged and her people rendered almost hope- 
less. To such there can be no further miseries, and therefore it is 
not surprising that the Russian people seized hold of a formula 
which would, it seemed to them, get rid of all their oppressors at 
one fell swoop. Bolshevism was the reaction of a people, crushed 
into the dust, against its oppressors. The Bolsheviki represented 
approximately one-fifth of the Russian people, and the estabhshment 
of Bolshevism meant that this fifth, the poorest and most ignorant 
element among the working classes, would rule. Their theory was 
that since workmen were the sole creators of wealth they should 
exclusively control all poHtical power. 

Lenine, the leader of the Bolsheviki, was a scion of a noble 
Russian family named Uljanov. In 1900 he formed the extreme 
section of the Social Democrats in Switzerland, and thereafter 
travelled from country to coimtry carrying on his propaganda of 
anarchy. His aim was to destroy the old social structiu'e so that 
the oppressed might be freed at least of their taskmasters. He 
had been consistent and honest enough in pxirsuing his ideals for 
many long years but was quite wiUing to accept German gold and 
German assistance to fmrther his objects. 

As the Provisional Government was now no longer able to 
carry on, a new one was formed including a larger proportion of 
Socialists. Almost immediately it issued a declaration of poHcy 
stating among other things its approval of the continuation of the 
war. The allied governments replied cordially and sent special 
missions to Russia to estabhsh working connection with the new 
regime. 

Meanwhile the army, undermined by propaganda, appeals and 
orders from the Soviets, steadily disintegrated. Alexeiev, the 
Chief of Staff, resigned, while Komilov had gone from Petrograd 
to an army command. Kerensky, now Minister of War, believing 
that only an offensive would restore the army morale, toured the 
Russian front inspiring the troops with his burning eloquence. He 
succeeded in not only inspiring the troops but also the Sociahsts 
with the spirit of the offensive. 

The all-Russian Congress of Soviets met on June 16th and 
among other things had explained to them the fact that the Russian 



The Russian Revolution 359 

Government was taking steps to summon an inter-allied conference 
for the revision of treaties, with the exception of the agreement 
of London in which all the AlHes had pledged themselves not to 
conclude a separate peace. The congress on the whole supported 
the Russian Ministry. 

Meanwhile, on account of the stagnation on the Russian front, 
Austria and Germany had withdrawn nmnerous divisions and 
batteries to the Italian and western fronts. As the spirit of 
offensive, created by Kerensky, grew, Brussilov decided to launch 
his attack towards Lemberg and renew the waning spirit of the 
Russian people. On June 29th the bombardment of the enemy 
trenches on the Strypa began and on July 1st the infantry attacked. 
By July 2d the Russians had taken 18,000 prisoners and 29 guns. 

The eleventh Russian army attacked north of the Tarnapol- 
Lemberg railway, while Komilov pressed forward along the Black 
Bistritza capturing 10,000 prisoners in three days. 

There the revolutionary armies halted. Lack of discipline, 
desertion and propaganda had done their work; the Russian army 
had fought its last battle. On July 19th, south of the Dniester, 
one Russian regiment abandoned its position and by night the 
Russian front for twenty-five miles was deserted, while the soldier 
rabble streamed homeward. The disease rapidly spread from the 
eleventh army to the seventh and eighth armies and the Russian 
army had practically ceased to exist. The gallant and devoted 
soldiers who had carried out one of the most marvellous retreats 
in history, who had shown themselves to be perhaps the greatest 
infantrymen in the world and who had been able to withstand 
untold privations and misery, had become a flock of sheep willing 
to follow the lead of the dishevelled orators of the Soldiers' and 
Workmen's Council. 

The revolution then underwent a stormy passage. Every- 
where were riotous disturbances, and radicals, monarchists and 
anarchists seemed to be endeavouring to bring about a reign of 
terror. On July 20th Prince Lvov, the Premier, resigned and was 
succeeded by Kerensky who also remained Minister of War. In 
the new Government formed, Kerensky became virtual dictator, 
and his Government received the endorsation of the Congress of 
Soviets and the Council of Peasant Delegates. Kerensky, acting 
with much vigour, ordered the arrest of deserters and revolutionary 



360 Canada's Sons in the World War 

agitators. On July 23d the reorganized, all-Russian Councils of 
Workmen's and Peasants' Organizations denounced the mutinous 
spirit of the army, but, as already stated, it came too late. The 
army was demoralized. 

On July 25th the death penalty which had been done away with 
was restored in the army through Kerensky threatening to resign. 
PubHcations inciting to insubordination in the army were sup- 
pressed, and a resolution censuring Lenine was passed with an 
overwhelming majority by the Soviet. On August 23d Kornilov 
became commander-in-chief of the Russian army and it began to 
look as if the revolution were going to weather the forces attempt- 
ing to imdermine and destroy what it was trying to accomplish. 

On August 26th, at Moscow, a conference of 2,500 delegates, 
representing the Diuiia, the Soviets, and the Zemstovs of organized 
Russia, gathered in council. Kerensky, in a lengthy speech, 
reviewed the situation and claimed that the time had come for the 
revolution to consolidate what it had gained. 

Kornilov, the commander-in-chief of the army, was received 
with prolonged cheers. He stated that the Russian army must be 
regenerated at any cost and recommended certain reform measures 
to be carried out. He was supported by General Kaledines, leader 
of the Don Cossacks, who openly defied the Bolsheviki elements. 
The congress clearly showed the difference between the radical 
element represented by Kerensky and the moderate represented 
by the generals of the army. 

The capture of Riga by the Germans, shortly after the Moscow 
Conference, produced a great crisis in Russia. The Provisional 
Government was charged with the failure of the army, and the 
Grand Duke Michael and others were arrested on charges of con- 
spiracy. On September 9th, Lvov, a deputy of the Duma, called 
upon Kerensky, stating that he had been sent from General Korni- 
lov, with the support of certain Duma members, industrial interests 
and other conservatives, to demand the surrender of all power into 
Kornilov's hands. 

Kerensky promptl}^' denounced Kornilov as a traitor and 
removed him from the position as commander-in-chief. 

To this action Kornilov repHed by advancing with an army 
against Petrograd. Kerensky thereupon declared martial law in 
Moscow and Petrograd, created himself commander-in-chief of 



The Russian Revolution 



361 



the army and took measures to repel the rebels. The adventure 
failed to receive the support expected and Kornilov was arrested. 

Towards the end of September at Moscow a democratic con- 
gress resolved to call a parliament consisting of 231 members; 110 
of these were to be representatives of the Zemstovs and towns. It 
refused to sanction a coalition cabinet in which Constitutional 
Democrats should participate. Kerensky defied the congress and 
named a coalition cabinet in which several Constitutional Demo- 
crats were given portfolios. "^ 




Russia as Partitioned by the Brest-Litovsk Treati 

This new government declared that it intended to raise the 
fighting power of the army and navy, to fight anarchy and call a 
Constituent Assembly of 732 delegates elected by popular vote. 

In the meantime the agitation against the Coalition Govern- 
ment continued and on November 1st Kerensky issued a statement 
to the Allies stating that Russia was worn out by the strain of 
war and claimed that since she had saved France and England 
from disaster early in the war, the AlUes should now shoulder the 
burden. 

A week later, on November 7th, an armed revolt against Premier 



362 Canada's Sons in the World War 

Kerensky and his coalition Government was precipitated by the 
Bolsheviki, led by Leon Trotzky, President of the Central Execu- 
tive Committee of the Petrograd Council, and Lenine, the leader 
of the Bolsheviki. The telephone and telegraph companies, the 
State Bank and the Marie Palace were seized. The garrison of 
Petrograd went over to the Bolsheviki, and the Government troops 
were soon overpowered with the exception of the Military Cadets 
and the Women's Battahon which bravely held the Winter Palace 
for some hours. 

On the same evening the Revolutionary Coromittee issued a 
proclamation denouncing Kerensky and his Government and called 
upon the soldiers of the army to arrest all officers who refused to 
join the revolution. They announced that an immediate peace 
would be brought about; that large proportional lands would be 
handed over to the peasants; that all authority was now in the 
hands of the Council of Workmen's and Soldiers' Delegates and 
that the Constituent Assembly would be convoked. 

The workmen and peasants at last controlled Russia. A 
Bolsheviki cabinet with Lenine as Premier and Trotzky as Foreign 
Minister was at once named. Kerensky raised a small force but 
was beaten by the Bolsheviki and fled. Russia began at once to 
go to pieces. The Ukraine and Finland declared their independence 
of the Central Government, as well as Siberia, the Caucasus, 
Lithuania, Bessarabia and other districts. 

Arrangements for an armistice were immediately entered into 
with the Central Powers along the front from the Baltic to Asia 
Minor. During the chaotic condition which followed, the elections 
for the Constituent Assembly were held, and though the Bolsheviki 
were in the minority they persisted in carrying on. 

The first conference in the negotiations for an armistice was 
held at the German headquarters at Brest-Litovsk. The Russian 
delegates included a sailor, a soldier and a Hbrarian, and a suspension 
of hostihties was arranged for ten days. 

Trotzky announced that the armistice would be signed only 
on condition that troops would not be transferred to other points. 
He also stated that the aUied governments should declare the 
aims for which they were fighting. No official answers were made 
to this note. 

At the meeting of the Constituent Assembly called for Decern- 



The Russian Revolution 363 

ber 11th, less than 50 of the 600 delegates attended and the Bolshe- 
viki influence seemed to be extending. On December 16th an 
armistice was signed to hold until January 14, 1918. The 
Bolsheviki were nothing if not thorough in their methods of destruc- 
tion. Titles, distinctions and privileges were aboHshed. The 
property of the nobles, merchants and bourgeoisie was to be handed 
over to the state; all church lands, property, money and precious 
stones were also to pass into the hands of the state, while rehgious 
instruction was to cease in the schools. All loans and treasury 
bonds owned by foreign subjects in Russia or abroad were 
repudiated. 

In spite of the formal protests of the allied governments, 
Lenine began overtures for a separate peace and the first meeting 
occmred on December 22, 1917. The terms not proving satis- 
factory to Russia, a second meeting was held at Brest-Litovsk on 
January 10, 1918. 

The conference broke up in a clash over the evacuation of the 
Russian provinces. On January 24th the Russian delegates decided 
unanimously to reject the German terms. On January 29th a 
peace treaty between the Central Powers and the Ukraine was 
signed; the Bolsheviki yielded to the German demands but did not 
sign the treaty. On the day the armistice expired the armies of the 
Central Powers advanced and occupied several Russian cities and 
the Bolshevist Government announced that it would accept the 
German terms. A treaty was signed at Brest-Litovsk on March 
3, 1918, which robbed Russia of about one-quarter of her area 
in Europe. Trotzky refused to sign the treaty and resigned his 
office, becoming chairman of the Petrograd Labour Commune. 
The treaty was formally denounced by the premiers and foreign 
ministers of the allied governments, all of whom refused to 
recognize it. 



CHAPTER XXV 
With Our Backs to the Wall 

American troops were now landing in France but still had 
to be trained in actual warfare. On February 5, 1918, it was 
announced that American battalions were for the first time occupy- 
ing part of the western battle hne, but the great rush of American 
troops had not yet begun, and it was not anticipated that their 
weight would be felt till the spring of 1919. The massing of German 
reserves on the v/estern front, however, was proceeding rapidly 
and the enemy entertained high hopes that he might administer a 
knock-out blow before America's strength was fully available. 

Throughout March the Allies waited for the blow to fall; it 
was generally agreed that its full weight v/ould be felt against the 
British in the Somme area but confidence prevailed that any 
enemy assault in strength would be held. 

THE FIRST OF THE DESPERATE GERMAN DRIVES 

On Thursday, March 21at, the enemy struck at the vital part 
of the alhed front with the object of separating the French and 
British armies. In all, sixty-four German divisions took part in the 
operations the first day. On the British front attacked there were 
twenty-nine infantry divisions and three cavalry divisions, of which 
nineteen infantry divisions were actually in the line. Launched on 
a 54-mile front the attack spread until a 63-mile front was involved. 
On the whole of the British front attacked diwiag the month, 
seventy-three German divisions were engaged against the Third and 
Fifth British armies and the right of the First British army with 
a total of thirty-four iafantry divisions. Before April 9th, fom* 
more British infantry divisions and three cavalry divisions had 
been used against the enemy on this front. 

At 5 A. M. an enemy bombardment of great intensity, with 
gas and high explosive shell from all kinds of artillery and trench 
mortars, was opened upon the British line from the Oise to the 
Scarpe River. A heavy white fog covered the ground, hiding from 

(364) 



With Our Backs to the Wall 365 

the artillery and machine gunners the S. O. S. signals sent up. 
The British defensive system consisted in the distribution of troops 
in depth. With this object, three defensive belts had been con- 
structed at considerable distances from each other, but had not 
all been completed in the forward area. The advanced system 
consisted of a hghtly held outpost screen covering our main positions. 
Since artillery and machine gun support was not available on accoimt 
of the S. 0. S. signals not being seen through the fog, the enemy 
forced his way into our foremost defensive zone. Our machine 
guns and forward field guns which had been placed to cover this 
zone with their fire were robbed almost entirely of their effect, and 
the detachments holding the outpost positions were consequently 
overwhelmed or surrounded. 

The attack had been expected and battle stations manned; 
on all parts of the front the garrisons of redoubts and strong points 
held out with the greatest gallantry; acts of heroism which had 
never been excelled in the annals of British arms were performed in 
great numbers on that day, and many garrisons, surrounded by the 
enemy, fought on without any possibihty of rescue until every man 
had been killed or captured. The weight of the enemy attack was 
too great however for the forces at oiu* disposal and the enemy made 
steady progress, employing a rolHng barrage fire timed at ten- 
minute intervals, alternating poison gas shells with shrapnel. The 
Germans broke our line by adopting the principle that lines of 
trenches and barbed wire were of little use if the defenders were 
dead, and that therefore the essential thing was to destroy the 
defenders. 

On the Third British army front, though the defences had 
been broken at certain points, the army held. South of St. Quentin 
where the line was thin and reserves were not available the enemy 
made considerable progress and that same evening General Gough, 
commander of the Fifth British army, began to retreat. On 
March 22d the retreat was continued, the army fighting continu- 
ously with great valour. All the available reserves at the disposal 
of the fifth army had already been thrown into the fight, and, 
except for one French division and some French cavalry, no further 
support was in reach of the fighting line. On March 23d arrange- 
ments were made with the French commander-in-chief to take 
over as rapidly as possible the front held by the Fifth British army 

81 



366 Canada's Sons in the World War 

south of Peronne, and for the concentration of a strong force of 
French divisions on the southern portion of the battle front. 

Measures were taken to obtain a special force of reserve 
divisions from the First and Second British armies for use as 
occasion might demand. The Canadian Corps was also held in 
readiness to counter-attack in case the enemy succeeded in piercing 
the British front. 

After two days of desperate fighting the British had fallen 
back from before St. Quentin as far as the Somme near Peronne. 
Ham was also lost together with Chaulny farther south on the Oise. 
Altogether about two-thirds of the territory evacuated in the 
German retreat was again overrun by the enemy under General 
von der Marwitz, who claimed 30,000 prisoners and 600 gims. At 
the northern end of the line attacked the Germans under von 
Buelow were substantially held, though they succeeded in capturing 
the Monchy Heights southeast of Arras. 

Once over the Somme the southern retreat continued. 
Bapaume fell on March 24th, and Nesle and Noyon had to be 
abandoned. By March 26th the AUies had been pressed beyond 
their defence line of 1916. The railway junction at Chaulnes and 
the important centre of Poye had been evacuated and the enemy, 
after the fall of Montdidier, came within twelve miles of Amiens. 
The German effort was now, however, becoming spent, and progress 
became much slower as the Allies threw re-enforcements into the 
line. On April 5th, after the enemy had been heavily defeated 
and the fight had become practically stabilized, a fresh German 
thrust was made against the British in the Armentieres section. 
In the Somme and Picardy offensive the enemy claimed 75,000 
prisoners. 

THE SECOND OFFENSIVE TOWARDS YPRES 

As the Picardy offensive died down the enemy, on April 9th, 
laimched a new attack on the Lys front with Armentieres as its 
immediate objective. Following their initial success, which gave 
them Neuve Chapelle and Faugissant, the enemy forced the Portu- 
guese division and the British backward for three and a half miles. 
Next day the front was attacked for another ten miles north of 
Armentieres which thereby became outflanked on both sides. 

Southward the enemy pushed forward to Estaires and Bac 



With Our Backs to the Wall 



367 




Detail Map of the Desperate Picardy Drive 

Showing the ground covered by the Germans in the drive launched by them on 
March 21, 1918. Though they made a deep dent in the alUed line, they failed in their 
main object which was the separating of the French and British armies. _ 



368 Canada's Sons in the World War 

St. Maur and on the north in Ploegsteert Woods. Armentieres was 
filled with gas shells and had to be abandoned on April 10th. The 
enemy had already claimed 20,000 prisoners and 200 guns. On 
April 11th the enemy had crossed the Lawe, a tributary of the 
Lys and the threat to our communications became a grave one. 
In the afternoon a gap was forced in our line southeast of Bailleul. 
In the evening a brigade of the Thirty-third British division, 
together with a body of cyclists, a pioneer battahon, and every 
available man from schools and re-enforcement camps came into 
action there and re-estabhshed the line. 

Next day in front of the Nieppe Forest determined attacks, 
with the aid of armoured cars and field guns at point-blank range, 
were made upon our lines. The fighting then was of the most 
bitter description, the enemy forcing his way past our posts by 
sheer weight of numbers so that our men were firing to the front 
and rear. 

The line here had become very attenuated and the fighting 
of the British, particularly the Fourth Guards brigade, was marvel- 
lous. The gallant stand of these troops enabled the First Aus- 
tralian division to detrain and enter the line; the road to Haze- 
brouk was then definitely closed and our fine established along the 
edge of the Nieppe Forest. The action of the troops in fighting 
in the Lys Valley was particularly noteworthy because practically 
the whole of them had been brought straight out of the Somme 
battlefield to rest and reorganize. 

^'WITH OUR BACKS TO THE WALL" 

The desperate nature of the crisis may be judged by the fact 
that on April 12th Sir Douglas Haig issued to the troops a mem- 
orable Order of the Day which explained that the enemy was 
evidently attempting to separate the British and French armies 
and break through to the Channel ports. His order concluded with 
the words: 

There is no other course open to us but to fight it out. Every position 
must be held to the last man; there must be no retirement. With our 
backs to the wall and believing in the justice of our cause, each one of us 
must fight on to the end. 

The safety of our homes and the freedom of mankind depend alike 
upon the conduct of each one of us at this critical moment. 



With Our Backs to the Wall 



369 



The enemy was now in possession of Bailleul, however, and 
was swarming over the slopes of the famous Messines Ridge. 
Four days of stubborn fighting ensued before that Hne was overrun, 
and its loss compelled us to withdraw from Passchendaele, Ghelu- 
velt, Poelcapelle and Langemarck, all obtained at such a heavy 
price in the awful winter fighting of 1917. 



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Gains Made by Germans in Final Offensive 



In the south Merville had gone but every effort to widen out 
the southern corner of the sahent at Givenchy was prevented by 
the magnificent defence of the First British army. In the sector 
from La Bassee past Lens to Arras the old line, anchored by Vimy, 
held firm. This prevented the collapse which would have marked 
the breaking down of the angle between the two German salients, 
and the widening of these into one huge depression. 



370 Canada's Sons in the World War 

Failing to break through the angle at Givenchy the enemy 
endeavoured to enlarge his gains within the newly-won territory. 
On April 24th he gained Villers-Bretonneux, and in the north that 
great bastion, Kemmel Hill, six miles southwest of Ypres. The 
ridges behind Kemmel, however, were held, effectively blocking the 
Ypres road. On May 8th another strong attempt to take Ypres 
failed, thus bringing to an end the invasion in the north. 

Immediately the German attacks ceased the Allies began to 
nibble at the enemy line, improving their positions in preparation 
for the inevitable great counter-offensive. 

THE DRIVE AT PARIS 

The third and last of the series of great attacks which consti- 
tuted the last desperate German offensive began on May 27th. 
This tremendous assault along the ridge on the heights north of the 
Aisne River was supported by tanks and was pressed regardless of 
losses. On the first night they had stormed the Chemin des Dames 
Ridge ; on May 28th the enemy was across the Aisne on an 18-mile 
front and had forced passages across the Vesle, twelve miles forward 
of the hne they had left two days before. 

On May 29th Soissons fell and the enemy thrust towards the 
Marne along the Rheims-Paris railway. On May 31st Amiens, 
suffering badly from shell attacks and air bombardments, was 
evacuated by the civihan population. Rheims was being severely 
pressed on both sides and the enemy's advanced posts were on 
the Marne along a lO-mile front, from Chateau-Thierry to Dormans. 
The enemy had advanced twenty-six miles in four days, had 
claimed 45,000 prisoners, 400 guns, thousands of machine guns, a 
complete aerodrome and vast quantities of stores. 

Long-range guns, capable of throwing a shell seventy miles, 
were now bombarding Paris and yet Foch held his hand. No serious 
attempt was made to counter-attack on promising sectors of the 
front elsewhere in order to reHeve the pressure. The master 
strategist was patiently biding his time and developing his army of 
manoeuvre. 

On June 2d the enemy had arrived within forty miles of 
Paris on the edge of the Forest of Villers-Cotterets. There and 
between Noyon and Soissons the French began counter-attacking 
and mastering the situation. Between Rheims and Dormans, 



With Our Backs to the Wall 



371 




How THE Enemy Advanced From Day to Day 
Map showing the successive gains made in the first desperate drive. 



372 Canada's Sons in the World War 

Franco-British troops were holding jBrm, new French divisions 
began coming into the Hne and the Americans had appeared at 
Veuilly-la-Potterie, northwest of Chdteau-Thierry — the nearest 
point to Paris. 

The Germans on June 9th made another violent effort to 
widen their front between the two big sahents by attacking between 
Montdidier and Noyon on a front of twenty-two miles. Twenty-five 
German divisions were employed for this purpose, and though a 
few miles were gained on a narrow front, and the enemy claimed 
another 13,000 prisoners, it became evident that the German effort 
was exhausting itself. The winning back of ground northwest of 
Chateau-Thierry and the appearance of ItaHan troops in this area 
were significant indications of Foch's future intention. 

On June 18th assaults against the city of Rheims failed. 
From that time on ^ the allied armies began counter-attacking on a 
small scale all along the line. In June the British alone captured 
nearly 2,000 prisoners on the western front, the French took 1,000 
prisoners in one operation and numerous small allied successes 
were gained. 

On July 15th the enemy again began an offensive on a large 
scale, the sector chosen being the front on both sides of Rheims 
about twenty-five miles in each direction. Thirty-five German 
divisions were employed. On the second day they crossed the 
Marne a few miles east of Chateau-Thierry, but after pressiug back 
American troops, they were driven back by them with the loss of a 
thousand prisoners. East of Rheims they were also brought to a 
standstill and the great German offensive came to an end. 

THE BRITISH ARMY REORGANIZED 

While intense activity prevailed behiud the British fines after 
our defeat the fighting troops were not idle, and in the Lys saHent 
particularly the damage caused to the enemy by our artillery was 
very great. Duriag the month of May, infantry activity on the 
front of the Second and Fourth British armies improved our posi- 
tions by the capture of places like Merris and Ridge Wood. 

Two months had worked marvels iu the British army. Drafts 
of 325,000 vigorous young men from England and Scotland had 
largely been absorbed, and the number of effective infantry divisions 
had risen from forty-five to fifty-two; while in artillery, we were 





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With Our Backs to the Wall 375 

stronger than we had ever been. Large operations now became 
possible to strengthen our defences and fit them in with future 
schemes. 

The first of these, on the 28th of June, drove the enemy from 
the edge of Nieppe Forest on a 6,000-yard front. On July 4th 
the Austrahan corps recaptured our old positions east of Hamel 
and, co-operating with sixty tanks, cleared the Villers-Bretonneux 
Plateau. In this affair 1,500 prisoners were taken. North of the 
Lys Australian patrols captured 223 German prisoners in two 
days, showing that the enemy morale had declined. On July 19th 
the Ninth division took Meteren with 359 prisoners. 

By the end of July the reconstitution of the British armies 
had been completed. The spirit of the men was as high as ever, 
and the success of the various local operations had had a good effect. 

While our troops were still fighting southwest of Rheims, a 
fresh battle had broken out on June 7th on the French front between 
Noyon and Montdidier. Anticipating a German attack east and 
west of Rheims, General Foch withdrew the whole of the eight 
French divisions in Flanders to the south. In addition. General 
Foch asked that four British divisions be moved, two of them 
south of the Somme, and two astride that river. On July 13th, 
Marshal Foch asked that these four divisions be despatched to 
take their place behind the junction of the allied armies. Accord- 
ingly the Twenty-second British corps was despatched to the 
French front. 

It was perfectly clear that Germany had intended to crush our 
first line with overwhelming masses and push through into the open 
coimtry beyond. This plan counted upon the breaking down of the 
aUied resistance at the start. Captured orders indicated that the 
enemy anticipated that the allied resistance would weaken as he 
pressed forward. His effort and his calculations failed. Our line 
was pressed back but not broken. Instead of weakening, our 
defence became stronger as the enemy advanced farther from his 
bases. His progress, instead of increasing from day to day gradually 
slowed down. The Allies had retired steadily with equanimity, 
firmly convinced that the enemy had thrown his last card on the 
table in the great gamble for world power. His reckless tactics 
and huge losses failed to bring about that great object for which he 
had striven — the defeat of the allied armies, and his very failure to 



are Canada's Sons In the World War 

achieve that object was in itself a colossal defeat. For it finally 
demonstrated to the German staff and the German soldier that in 
spite of their vaunted ''efficiency" they were incapable of destroying 
the allied armies. The superior morale of the Allies and their faith " 
in the justice of their cause would not even admit the possibility 
of defeat. 

At the end of April, 1918, many cheering messages poured 
in to the Field Marshal, Sir Douglas Haig, including ones from 
King George, the Governor-General of Canada and President 
Wilson. 

King George sent the following message to Field Marshal Sir 
Douglas Haig: 

I can assure you that the fortitude, courage and self-sacrifice with 
which the troops under your command continue so heroically to resist 
superior numbers are realized by me and my people. The Empire stands 
calm and confident in its soldiers. May God bless them and give them 
strength in this time of trial. 

Sir Douglas Haig sent the following reply to the King*s message : 

Your Majesty ^s gracious message has given imiversal encouragement 
to the whole army in France. I beg Your Majesty to accept our respectful 
and grateful thanks and the assurance that we will steadfastly continue 
to do our utmost to deserve the inspiring confidence Your Majesty and the 
people throughout the Empire have placed in us in this hour of national 
stress. 

President Wilson cabled Field Marshal Haig, congratulating 
him on the British stand against the German offensive, and pre- 
dicting a final aUied victory. 

The President's message read: 

May I not express to you my warm admiration of the splendid stead- 
fastness and valour with which your troops have withstood the German 
onset and the perfect confidence aU Americans feel that you will win a 
secure and final factory. 

Sir Douglas cabled in reply: 

Your message of generous appreciation of the steadfastness and valour 
of our soldiers in the great battle now raging has greatly touched us all. 
Please accept our heartfelt thanks. One and aU beheve ia the justice of 
our cause, and are determined to fight on without counting the cost until 
the freedom of mankind is safe. 



With Our Backs to the Wall 377 

PLAN OF THE ALLIES* OFFENSIVE 

At the middle of July the definite collapse of the enemy 
offensive and the striking success of the allied counter-offensive 
south of the Aisne effected a complete change in the whole military 
situation. The German army had made its effort and had failed. 
While its maximiun strength had now passed, the aUied strength 
had steadily increased through the incorporation of the fresh 
reserves. 

The British army was now ready for the offensive and the new 
American army, under General Pershing, was growing rapidly. 

Divisions of American troops had been trained with the 
French army and altogether the United States had 2,000,000 men 
in France. Though most of them yet lacked actual experience 
and v/ere not available for front line work, their actual presence 
in France had a tremendous moral effect on both the enemy and 
allied armies. Those in the field had already given convincing 
proof of their fighting ability. 

ON THE ITALIAN FRONT 

At the end of October, 1917, Germany was clearly alarmed at 
the prospect of her Austrian ally^s being overwhelmed by the 
Italians, and, in spite of the alHed offensive at Ypres and on the 
Aisne, managed to send six divisions, consisting probably of 100,000 
men, as re-enforcements to her ally. The Austrians had also rushed 
forces from the Russian front to the ItaHan theatre while the 
ItaHan front was taken over by the German General Staff. 

When the Austro-German armies attacked the Italians on 
October 24th their success was immediate. As on the Russian 
front, success came largely through propaganda, for the enemy had 
carried on a campaign to imdermine Itahan morale unprecedented 
for boldness and mendacity. The British and French successes 
paled into insignificance beside the terrible defeat inflicted upon 
the ItaHan army on the Upper Isonzo. 

There was no doubt that a desperate effort was being made 
to put Italy, like Russia, out of the war. Accordingly all the 
rehef possible was given by hammering away on the Belgian front. 
In order to stift^en the ItaHan army British and French troops 
were despatched to Italy arriving in time to participate in the 
battle along the Piave River. 



378 Canada's Sons in the World War 

During the retreat, largely occasioned by treachery in the 
second ItaUan army, that army alone lost 100,000 men in prisoners 
and 700 guns. A milhon men, encumbered by all the impediments 
of an army, and all the fleeing civiUans of the country, struggled 
over the choked roads leading to the TagHamento River. Nothing 
during the war had been seen Hke it. By a narrow margin the 
third Italian army reached and crossed the TagHamento River, 
losing some divisions and 500 guns, and for a moment there was a 
pause. Two hundred thousand men and 1,800 guns had ah*eady 
been lost. 

By November 10th the Italian armies, under Cadorna, were 
everywhere back on the Piave River, along which it had been 
determined to make a stand. A desperate struggle then ensued, 
but the Austrian offensive was stayed with the aid of the Twelfth 
French corps, the Fourteenth British corps, under Sir Herbert 
Plumer, and French and British batteries. 

On November 5th the Prime Ministers of Great Britain and 
France and their staffs met Premier Orlando of Italy at the Italian 
village of Rapallo and there evolved an AUied Council to be sta- 
tioned at Versailles, which eventually resulted in a unified western 
command under General Foch. 

By the New Year the front had quieted down and the Austrian 
commanders were left once more to their own devices by the 
Germans, who were planning their huge offensive on the western 
front. One great result of this debacle was the welding of Italy 
into a closer union; her miHtary power had been badly shaken, 
much of her army equipment and artillery had been lost, but 
Italy rose splendidly to the task of reorganization, and with the 
help of British and French troops who had arrived in December to 
stiffen the Italian army, was able not only to heroically meet the 
next Austrian attack but to completely turn the tables on the enemy 
and eventually force surrender. 

On June 15th, 1918, the Austrians attacked along the entire 
ItaUan line eastward from the Asiago Plateau to the sea. They 
succeeded in crossing the Piave at two points and claimed 10,000 
prisoners, but it was clear on the third day that their offensive was 
a failure. The Piave River suddenly rose in flood, washing away 
the Austrian bridges and, attempting to recross, the enemy was 
severely beaten^ with the loss of 16,000 prisoners. 



With Our Backs to the Wall 379 

The attack died down but the Italian army steadily worked 
away, clearing the whole Piave delta and enlarging the zone for the 
protection of Venice. In these operations 7,000 more prisoners 
and sixty-three guns were taken. 

Throughout the heavy actions on the French and Belgian 
fronts and the period of the Turkish and Bulgarian breakdown, the 
Italian army was kept by the allied commander-in-chief standing 
idle, waiting for the right moment to strike. 

THE CONQUEST OF RUMANIA 

It will be remembered that in the spring of the year 1918 
the Central Powers carried everything before them in Western 
Europe and the Balkans. 

In the autumn of 1917, though om* Russian ally had become 
demoralized, the Rumanian army resisted the German army, under 
von Mackensen, with desperate valour. With the Russian defec- 
tion, however, part of the front originally held by 500,000 Russians 
had to be taken over and held by the Rumanian army, already 
weakened by earlier fighting. 

The peace signed by the Ukraine on February 10th, 1918, 
followed by the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk on March 3d, left Ru- 
mania completely isolated and helpless. Delegates from Rumania 
were then summoned to German headquarters and given four days 
to surrender. Most of the Rumanian generals believed they could 
fight for another month, the period for which they were supplied 
with ammunition. The Rumanian Cabinet resigned and the new 
Government agreed that there was nothing to do but to acquiesce 
in the onerous terms imposed by Germany, and on May 7th the 
Treaty of Bucharest was signed. Among other clauses of the 
treaty the Germans stipulated that a new Commission to control 
the Danube River be set up, from which Commission representatives 
of Great Britain, France and Italy were to be excluded. 

WAR AIMS 

The Russian revolution followed by the capture of Russia 
by the Bolshevik element; the Italian disaster on the Isonzo and 
the Cambrai misadventure had caused a great reversal of hopes 
among the Allies and stimulated the enemy to make renewed 
efforts. Among the Allies there was much heart-searching and 



380 Canada's Sons in the World War 

self-examination, moods which the enemy endeavored to take 
advantage of to sow the seeds of disunion. 

A discussion as to war aims was launched by a letter from 
Lord Lansdowne who suggested the possibility of a peace by 
negotiation. His proposals were greeted with scorn except by the 
professional British pacifist element. In the American Congress, on 
December 4th, President Wilson stated that peace could not even 
be discussed with the present rulers of Germany. On December 
14th, Lloyd George said that a real peace involved reparation for 
damage done as well as pimishment of the "v\Tongdoer. 

The Labour Party drew up a memorandmn of war aims which 
was accepted by the SociaHst and Inter-AUied Labour Conference 
held in London shortly afterward. The pubHcation by the Bolshe- 
viki of various secret treaties of the AUies showed clearly that the 
aims of 1915 were no longer the aims of 1917, for in the interval a 
certain intemationahsm had grown up. It was recognized that 
neither the destruction of the enemy nor readjustments involving 
the maintenance of huge armies could result iq peace and security; 
that could only result from some uitemational organization such as a 
League of Nations with power to keep any refractory nations lq order. 

The British Premier, Mr. Lloyd George, on January 5, 1918, 
issued a statement declaring what Britaia was fighting for. It 
included these points : 

1. The complete restoration of Belgium, Serbia, Montenegro, France, 
Italy and Rumania. 

2. Reparation for all losses by those nations. 

3. Restoration of Alsace-Lorraine. 

4. Independence of Poland. 

5. Self-government for Austro-Hungarian nationalities. 

6. Satisfaction of Italy and Rimaania of legitimate irridentist claims. 

7. Internationalization of sea route between Mediterranean and Black 
Seas. 

8. Recognition of national character of Arabia, Armenia, Mesopo- 
tamia, Syria and Palestine. 

9. German African colonies to be at disposal of a conference. 

10. Reparation for damages done in defiance of international law, 
particularly as regards submarine campaign. 

IL The creation of an international organization to limit armaments 
and reduce the possibility of war. 

This statement of Lloyd George^s would have proved much 
stronger had he made the creation of the international organization 



With Our Backs to the Wall 381 

the main feature of the code and the principle upon which the 
various aUied demands were to be related and eventually secured. 

Three days later, on January 8th, President Wilson issued a 
similar document embodying his now famous fourteen points. 
These were: 

1. Open covenants of peace and no secret diplomacy in the future. 

2. Absolute freedom of navigation in peace and war outside territorial 
waters, except when seas may be closed by international action. 

3. Removal as far as possible of all economic barriers. 

4. Adequate guarantees for the reduction of national armaments. 

5. An absolutely impartial adjustment of colonial claims, the interests 
of the peoples concerned having equal weight with the claims of the 
Government whose title is to be determiaed. 

6. All Russian territory to be evacuated and Russia given full oppor- 
tunity for self-development, the Powers aidiQg. 

7. Complete restoration of Belgium ia full and free sovereignty. 

8. All French territory freed, and the wrong done by Prussia in 
1871 in the matter of Alsace-Lorraine righted. 

9. Readjustment of Italian frontiers on lines of nationaHty. 

10. People of Austria-Hungary accorded an opportunity of autonomous 
development. 

11. Rumania, Serbia and Montenegro evacuated, Serbia given access 
to the sea, relations of Balkan states settled on Unes of allegiance and 
nationality. 

12. Non-Turkish nationalities in the Ottoman Empire assured of 
autonomous development, and the Dardanelles to be permanently free to 
all ships. 

13. An Independent Polish State. 

14. A general association of nations must be formed under specific 
covenants for the purpose of affording mutual guarantees of political in- 
dependence and territorial integrity to great and small states alike. 

With the exception of those referring to the freedom of the 
seas and open covenants of peace, the fourteen points were prac- 
tically the same as those given out by Mr. Lloyd George some days 
before. 

To the general features of Mr. Wilson's document the German 
and Austrian Governments agreed but refused to consider the 
specific questions such as the restoration of Belgium, Alsace- 
Lorraine and those referring to the Balkan States, Turkey and 
Poland. Military preparations were then well under way which 
made serious talk about conditions of peace from the Allies ridicu- 
lous to the German High Command. 



382 Canada's Sons in the World War 

CABINET CHANGES 

In all of the warring nations there was more or less trouble. 
The United States had to cope with the activities of enemy ahens 
within their borders. In Austria there was a general strike of 
workmen and in Germany there were serious strikes at Berlin, 
Hamburg, Munich and Kiel, all of which were put down with 
armed force. In France the ministry fell and the President boldly 
entrusted M. Clemenceau — ^'The Tiger '^ — with the responsibihty 
of forming a new Government. 

In Great Britain the war cabinet of Lloyd George in spite of 
mistakes had on the whole done well. The army had been increased 
by 821,000 men, while 731,000 men and 804,000 women had been 
placed in civil employment in Great Britain. Six hundred and 
twenty-four thousand more tons of shipping had been produced 
than in the previous year, and the amount of goods brought to the 
country by 100 tons of shipping had jimiped from 106 to 150 tons. 
The number of guns in France had been increased by thirty per 
cent, and the number of aeroplanes was two and a half times as 
great as in the year preceding. 

The work of Lord Rhondda and Mr. Clynes in controlling the 
supply and distribution of staple food suppHes under extraor- 
dinarily difficult conditions was one of the tasks brilHantly carried 
out by those able men. The heavy work carried on by Lord 
Rhondda caused his death, and he was mourned by the whole people 
who knew of his magnificent work. 

In the navy Sir John Jellicoe was succeeded by Sir Rosslyn 
Wemyss, who had been in charge of the convoy which carried the 
first Canadian contingent to Europe. The sinkings of merchant 
ships had become less than the number being laimched and the 
submarine menace was steadily being overcome. 

The Zeppelin had been replaced by aeroplanes for the bombing 
of England and a considerable amount of damage was done though 
it had no effect on the maintenance of our air service on the conti- 
nent. An Air Ministry had been estabhshed in England and the 
Royal Naval Air Service and Royal Fljdng Corps were imited in 
one service known as the Royal Air Force. 

The new Allied Council at Versailles, whose business was to 
co-ordinate mihtary action on the western front, and prepare 
recorhmendations for the various governments, consisted of General 



With Our Backs to the Wall 383 

Cadoma for Italy, General Foch for France, General Sir Henry 
Wilson for Great Britain, and General Bliss for the United States. 
These distinguished generals were speedily called away to other 
work and as the result of an attempt to increase the power of the 
Versailles Council, Sir Wilham Robertson, Chief of the Imperial 
General Staff, resigned. His place was taken by Sir Henry Wilson, 
a man of broad experience and marked natural gifts, who was 
persona grata to the French Staff. 

There was much acrimonious discussion in Great Britain 
as to whether the politicians were overriding the mihtary authorities 
or not. On the whole, though the retention of too many trained 
divisions in England was a constant som'ce of irritation to the 
British Staff, there was no evidence to indicate that a single move 
had been made on any British front except on the advice of the 
British General Staff. 

On April 18, 1918, a month after the great German offensive 
had been launched. Lord Derby, Secretary of State for War, became 
British Ambassador to France and was succeeded by that remark- 
ably intellectual administrator and devoted pubHc servant. Lord 
Milner, 



CHAPTER XXVI 
The Glorious Affair of Zeebrugge 

The little group of islands in the North Sea known as Great 
Britain, with a total area of 121,000 square miles, could be easily 
set down in old Southern Ontario. Yet it is the centre of a com- 
monwealth of nations upon whose vast territories the sun never 
sets. Its 13,150,000 square miles of territory girdle the globe and 
450,000,000 souls acknowledge the democratic sovereignty of the 
British Crown. 

Not one inch of British territory was invaded by Germany 
during the four years of war — because the British navy commanded 
the seas. 

In 1918, between April 1st and July 1st, 900,000 United States 
soldiers crossed the ocean to France. That is an average of 300,000 
a month or 10,000 a day. With the exception of 291 Hves lost 
when the Germans torpedoed the Tuscania, the crossing was made 
as if the U-boats had never existed. 

Two-thirds of those American soldiers crossed in vessels of the 
British Merchant Marine. The transportation of those American 
troops was possible because the British navy had commanded the 
sea since the 4th of August, 1914. Had it not been for the British 
fleet the United States would have had to face practically single- 
handed a Eiu-ope of which Germany was the indisputable master. 

''What is the navy doing?" was a question thoughtlessly asked 
by British and Americans ahke during the war. The navy worked 
in silence and obscm'ity. Day and night, in sunshine and storm, 
in summer and winter, however, the British navy was alert and 
watchful. 

The British navy effectually baffled the hopes and plans 
of Germany to win the war with U-boats. 

Blockaded Germany and bottled up the German navy. 

Drove German commerce from the sea. 

Preserved the British Empire from invasion. 

Brought Germany to the verge of starvation. 

(384) 



The Glorious Affair of Zeebrugge 385 

Enabled the British Empire to wage war in seven different 
theatres. 1 

Kept the high seas open for the legitimate service of mankind. 

Made ultimate defeat of Germany absolutely certain, no 
matter how long delayed. 

In the hght of these facts and figures the conclusion is forced 
upon one that but for the British fleet the war might have been 
over and won by Germany years before. Unless the AUies had 
been completely triumphant at the outset of the war at sea no 
effort on land would have saved them. The British fleet is mainly 
responsible for that triumph. 

Lord Fisher who, during the war resigned as First Sea Lord 
after a quarrel with Winston Churchill, had long before earned 
the undying gratitude of his country. 

He revolutionized methods of naval warfare; he produced 
the first Dreadnought: he trained the navy to fight in the North 
Sea. 

Lord Fisher was steeped in the Nelson tradition; probably 
no one except Mahan had ever studied Nelson's strategy like 
he had. 

He found that the great principles of naval warfare were 
better understood by Nelson than any other man before or since. 
Hence the remark credited to Fisher that Nelson was the greatest 
man who ever lived. It was Nelson who said: ''Your battle 
ground should be yom^ drilling ground," and when he was chief 
of the British navy, Fisher put that precept into practice. Every 
ship on foreign service was called home on some pretext or other 
to do its patrol work in the North Sea. 

Fisher said: ''I wanted it to nose about in the fogs, smelling 
different patches of pea-soupiness, sniffing and peering until it 
could say, 'Hullo, here; the Dogger Bank,' and feel it had met 
a friend. What hope would the fleet have had of victory called 
from the bright sunshine and blue air of the Mediterranean to 
fight a battle in the fogs of the North Sea?" 

He added: ''There they were with white-topped caps and 
linen trousers, with beautiful pohshed decks and shining brass 
work, living in a yachtsman's paradise, and God was saying every 
hour as loud as Sinai's thunder that Armageddon would be fought 
in the pea-soup of the North Sea." 



386 Canada's Sons in the World War 

In 1908 Admiral Fisher put into writing his firm conviction 
that Germany and Great Britain would be at war in 1914 — when 
the Kiel Canal improvements were completed. In his opinion in 
regard to naval matters he apparently had the royal support of 
King Edward. It was doubtless the King^s mfluence with France 
that made it possible for British warships to be withdrawn from 
the Mediterranean and transferred to the North Sea. 

To Lord Fisher is given the credit of producing the Dread- 
nought — a type of ship that was fast, yet heavily armoured, and 
would carry heavier guns than any other ship. The Dreadnought 
revolutionized naval strategy for it rendered all existing types of 
battleships obsolete. And when the Dreadnought was being care- 
fully reproduced by German shipbuilders, Lord Fisher was evolv- 
ing the Superdreadnought which put the Dreadnought out of 
date and compelled Germany to enlarge the Kiel Canal to accom- 
modate the newer type of vessel. 

It was Great Britain's salvation to control the seas, for on 
that control her very existence depended. When war broke out, 
therefore, it was to be expected that British naval ingenuity would 
be able to defeat any devices of the enemy. As will be seen in 
the chapter on the battle of Jutland, the British did not give 
the Germans sufficient credit for possessing scientific and engineer- 
ing skill — the possession of which enabled German naval engineers 
to evolve several devices that counted heavily in actual naval 
fighting. 

Nevertheless the ingenuity and resourcefulness which had 
been such a marked characteristic of British seamen all through 
the centuries still stood them in good stead. 

The elaboration of floating platforms capable of carrying the 
heaviest naval guns and manoeuvring in shallow water was a 
complete surprise. And when they enfiladed the German lines 
in Belgium for six miles inland as early as the autumn of 1914, 
they ruined the German plan to win the road by the sea to Calais. 
Later on the same type of ship, of such shallow draft that they 
could not be torpedoed effectively, replaced capital ships of the 
British navy in the waters off Gallipoli. 

There were other secrets, well kept, which had much to do 
with the failure of the German submarine campaign. 

With German science and German skill concentrated on win- 



The Glorious Aflfair of Zeebrugge 387 

ning the war by submaxines, it looked at one time as if the Germans 
were gaining in the race of producing offensive measures faster 
than we could evolve methods of meeting them. Every day 
brought tales of sinkings, burnings and sickening murders on the 
high seas. But the coiu^age and devotion of the naval men did 
not fail. They decided that German frightfulness should be repaid 
in kind. 

The German practice of waging war against unarmed shipping 
was to first discharge a torpedo at sight, on the principle that the 
least said the soonest mended. If the torpedo missed its mark 
the submarine broke surface and fired a shot across the bows of the 
vessel. The merchantman then had two alternatives; to take to 
his heels and try to escape, or heave to and abandon the ship. In 
the latter case the submarine came close up and summoned the boats 
alongside. At the muzzle of a revolver the captain was ordered 
into the submarine with his papers and the crew of his boat directed 
to row a party of German sailors, bearing bombs, back to the 
ship. The bombs were then placed aboard, the ship looted and 
the dereHct sent to the bottom. 

The navy noted these Him methods and after due considera- 
tion opined that it had solved the submarine problem. They 
evolved the '^Hush ship.'' 

A ''Hush ship'' was a ship disguised as a tramp steamer and 
carrying concealed armament. They pUed on trade routes and 
when they were hailed by submarines promptly surrendered. 

Enough men were left on board to operate the hidden guns. 
When the submarine came close the guns were put into operation 
and the U-boats sent to the bottom. This practice was exceed- 
ingly annoying to the German naval authorities for they had no 
means of kno\sdng when and how their U-boats had been captured. 
They simply disappeared. It was another case of brains being 
used to offset superior mechanical equipment. 

BLOCKING THE HARBOUR OF ZEEBRUGGE 

In no case during the whole war did the valour and tradition 
of the British navy shine more brilliantly than in the affair of 
Zeebrugge. 

The submarine base of Zeebrugge was protected by the Mole, 
a mile long and eighty yards in width^ fortified by seven heavy 



388 Canada's Sons in the World War 

guns facing one way and three facing another. There were also 
many batteries of German gims on the shore. The approach to 
the channel was blocked by simken dredges and mines in such 
a manner that the only way to reach it was under the point-blank 
range of the German heavy batteries. There were also German 
batteries all along the shore to the south, some of them with a 
range of twenty-three miles. The harboiu' was full of destroyers. 
Enemy aeroplanes kept watch from the air in the day. SearchHghts 
and flares made it seemingly impossible to approach within miles 
at night. In short, the idea of approaching the harbour and sink- 
ing ships across the channel would have seemed to a German 
the acme of madness. 

The British navy planned to render that annoying base of 
Zeebrugge useless. For five months the preparations went on. 
Every sailor, and they were all volunteers, was thoroughly drilled 
in his part. And finally before the raid each man was taken into 
the confidence of the officers as to the plan, so that if all the officers 
were shot down the men could carry on. 

At last the time came for the great adventure. The night 
of April 22, 1918, being favourable for an attack, the ships took 
up their positions some three miles off Zeebrugge. Three of the 
cruisers. Intrepid, Iphigenia and Thetis, each duly packed with 
concrete and with mines attached to their bottoms for the purpose 
of sinking them in the neck of the canal, were aimed at Zeebrugge; 
two others, similarly prepared, were directed at Ostend. The 
function of the Vindictive, with the ferry-boats Iris and Daffodil, 
was to attack the great half-moon Mole which guards the harbour 
of Zeebrugge, land bluejackets and marines upon it, destroy 
what guns, stores and Germans she could find, and generally 
create a diversion while the block-ships ran in and sank them- 
selves in their appointed places. 

Enveloped by a dense smoke screen, the Vindictive headed in 
towards the Mole, with bluejackets and marines standing ready 
for the landing. It was not imtil the ship was close to the Mole 
that the wind blew the smoke away, laying her bare to the eyes 
that looked seaward. A moment afterwards it seemed to those 
in the ships as if the dim coast and the hidden harbour exploded 
into light. Guns and machine guns along the Mole and batteries 
ashore awoke to life, and it was in a gale of shelling that Vindictive 



The Glorious AfEair of Zeebrugge 389 

laid her nose against the thirty-foot high concrete side of the 
Mole, let go an anchor, and signed to Daffodil to shove her stern in. 
Iris went ahead and endeavoured to get alongside Hkewise. The 
fire, from the account of everybody concerned, was intense. 

Commander A. F. B. Carpenter conned Vindictive from her 
open bridge till her stern was laid in, when he took up his position 
in the flame-thrower hut on the port side, which was so riddled 
and shattered that it is marvellous, reads the report, that any 
occupant of it should have survived. 

The landing on the Mole was in itself a perilous business, 
involving a passage across the crashing, splintering gangways, a 
drop over the parapet into the field of fire of the German machine 
guns, and a further drop of some sixteen feet to the surface of 
the Mole itself. Many were killed and wounded as they crowded 
up, but nothing hindered the speedy and orderly landing from 
all of the eighteen gangways. 

The topography of the great Mole, with its railway line and 
its many buildings, hangars, and store-sheds, was already well 
known, and the demohtion parties moved to their appointed work 
in perfect order. One after another the buildings burst into flame 
or spht and crumpled as the dynamite went off. 

When the work of destruction was finally completed, the 
Vindictive was towed loose from the Mole by the Daffodil and 
made for home, her stokers working her up to a final display of 
seventeen knots. 

And, as a result of the raid, the few old ships with their holds 
full of concrete are to-day lying across the canal in a V position, 
the work they set out to do having been accompHshed and the 
canal having been effectively blocked. 

Captain Carpenter, V.C., of the Vindictive^ the great hero 
of this exploit, said in part: "The din was terrific and I think 
they got the old Vindictive in every visible spot. Suddenly the 
thing happened for which we had been semi-consciously waiting. 
There was a tremendous roar, and up went a huge tower of flame, 
debris and bodies into the black sky. My fellows cheered like 
mad for they knew what it meant. Sandford had got home 
beneath the viaduct with his ancient submarine and touched her 
off. I never saw such a column of flame. It seemed a mile high.'' 

A curious feature of the submarine attack was this, that as 



390 Canada's Sons in the World War 

she shot towards the viaduct the searchHghts picked her up and 
the guns began firing at her. The submarine was full of explosives 
and petrol, but to the amazement of the crew when the Germans 
saw her still coming on and dashing straight for the Mole they 
stopped firing and simply gaped. 

They paid for their ciuiosity. On the viaduct were large 
numbers of the enemy staring at the submarine approaching. 

''Presently/^ Captain Carpenter says, ''came the explosion 
and bang went the whole lot to glory. And," he added quaintly, 
''they must have been the mostsurprised lot of Huns since the 
war started." 

The affair of Zeebrugge has been acclaimed as one of the 
most gallant exploits in the British navy. The romance of Cap- 
tain Carpenter^s rise to fame from an obscure desk in the admi- 
ralty to the command of the most heroic naval undertaking of the 
Great War is probably without parallel in the history of any 
country. The plan succeeded; the submarine base was rendered 
useless and the old ships loaded with concrete defied all efforts 
to remove them. Thus did the navy demonstrate that tradition 
and gallantry were more than a match for German industry and 
German skill. 




STORMING THE MOLE AT ZEEBRUGGE 

One of the most brilliant and spectacular feats in naval history was the British 
blocking of the submarine harbor at Zeebrugge. The picture shows one of the detach- 
ments of marines that braved the terrific German defense fire and swarmed up the 
mole that protects the harbor, planting explosives that made a great breach and let 
the tides in. 



...c- . 






5 » ^42^^ , ^.'^:^ 





AMMUNITION FOR THE GUNS 
Canadian narrow-gauge line taldng ammunition up the line through a 

shattered village 




CANADIAN BRIGADIER-GENERAL SCOUTS IN A WHIPPET TANK 
To see what the enemy was doing and lay his plans, a Canadian general used this 
modern steel horse which was heavily shelled by the boches as soon as it appeared. 



CHAPTER XXVII 
The Canadian Auxiliary Services 

The historian of former wars was Uttle concerned with the 
problems of transport and supply of the warring armios. When 
he had presented a narrative of the purely miUtary operations, 
derived from a critical examination of the records and facts 
at his disposal, his task was completed with a summary of 
the effects of the war on the belUgerent countries. Except in the 
areas immediately affected the national life suffered Uttle disturb- 
ance. Armies obtained their supplies from the surroimding 
countryside by the simple process of taking what they required 
or paying for it by requisition and voucher. 

But in modem warfare when the whole national resources 
in men and material were mobilized, when the nimaber of troops 
in the field had increased from tens of thousands to millions, and 
when the entire quantity of food, clothing, equipment and ammu- 
nition required had to be collected from all over the world and 
transported to the scene of operations, all the services connected 
with supplies and transportation became vastly expanded. The 
scope of the historian and the interest of the reader have thereby 
become greatly increased. 

A WAR WITHOUT SPECTATORS 

A century ago when Great Britain went to war, the army 
formed but a small percentage of the male population and the 
auxiliary forces were correspondingly insignificant. The average 
citizen in England, whose wars were always waged abroad, was 
able to sit back and watch the contest of the armies from afar. 
Sometimes, as at Waterloo, large numbers of spectators went 
over from England to see the battle. 

In the recent war there were no spectators. In a war which 
jeopardized the future of the empire and the world every man 
played his part, however humble, in the terrible contest. The 
whole national resources, human and material, were mobihzed; 

(393) 



394 Canada's Sons in the World War 

and as the armies expanded enormously those auxiliary forces, 
which provided supplies and munitions, transported them to 
those armies, looked after their health and physical welfare and 
conducted the necessary huge financial operations, also expanded 
and became scarcely less important than the fighting sections. 

Behind the fighting fringe of the Canadian Corps on the 
western front there were non-combatant units of the most diverse 
nature, many of them unknown in previous wars — labour battalions, 
salvage companies, railway troops, postal, record and pay depart- 
ments, medical, dental and veterinary services. 

Many of these units, particularly engineers, pioneers, stretcher 
bearers, medical and army service corps, frequently came imder 
shell fire. For the men of most of the auxihary services, whether 
swinging a pick, an axe, or a pen, there was no rehef from the 
deadly monotony of routine. The inspiration of martial music, 
the high tension and nerve strain of the bombardment, the excite- 
ment of the trench raid or the intoxication of the assault were 
unknown to them. With the exception of the engineers, pioneers 
and medicals, they had little chance of winning honours or dec- 
orations. 

A PERFECTLY CO-ORDINATED WORK 

Yet on the perfectly co-ordinated work of these various units 
depended the efficiency of the fighting branches. The failure 
of the food supply for two or three days; the inabifity to deliver 
munitions; the failure to evacuate the sick and wounded; the 
impossibiUty of building bridges, mending wire or keeping the 
telephone system of the army in order, would utterly destroy the 
fighting ability of the fighting men. 

Like a huge vine with its branches and tendrils spreading 
fanwise from the sturdy stump, the roads and railways of the 
Canadian army area radiated from the bases on the coast. And 
along those roads Hke ants along the vine branches, passed an 
unending stream of motor lorries, horse transport, guns, ammu- 
nition and supply columns, staff cars, ambulances, troops and 
despatch riders. 

Over these roads and railways pass the vast quantities of 
supplies, ammunition, food, equipment, clothing and the thousand 
and one requirements of a modem army in the field. 



The Canadian Auxiliary Services 395 

Behind the firing line those auxiliary services, each a part 
of a vast machine, laboured night and day, building roads and 
railways, transporting ammunition and supplies through miry, 
shell-torn country, ministering to the sick and wounded, and 
otherwise busied with the enormous task of sustaining thousands 
of our Canadian boys in a barren country. 

As soon as an operation order was issued by divisional head- 
quarters the officer commanding the engineers made the necessary 
arrangements for carrying out the r61e assigned to his corps. The 
pioneers and signallers made similar preparations. The Assistant 
Director of Medical Services selected the positions for his field 
ambulances and dressing stations. Even the chaplains estab- 
Hshed soup kitchens and coffee stalls as close to the front line as 
possible where wounded and exhausted men could obtain a reviving 
drink and a cigarette. 

THE CANADIAN ENGINEERS 

Like all the services connected with the supply and trans- 
portation of troops and material the work of military engineers 
had expanded enormously. In this corps were included engineer 
companies, army troop companies, tunnelling companies, assisted 
by pioneer and labour battalions. Railway troops may also be 
grouped with the engineers. 

These units were responsible for the construction and upkeep 
of the maze of roads, railroads and fight railways, over which must 
pass the necessaries of fife and instruments of destruction of the 
Canadian army. 

In one case a short length of railway was broken by German 
artillery fire a score of times in twenty-fom* hours, yet the gaps, vary- 
ing in length from fifteen to thirty feet had to be repaired under shell 
fire. The engineers ranked as a combatant unit as did the pioneers 
who carried the same equipment as infantrymen. The latter 
suppfied working parties in and behind the fines for the building of 
trenches and dugouts, tunnelfing, repairing roads and other work 
under the supervision of the engineers. The engineers and 
pioneers are units which render the maximum of service with the 
minimum of display; only those who have seen their work reafize 
to the slightest degree the \'ital importance of these branches and 
the miracles they have been able to accomplish. 



396 Canada's Sons in the World War 

THE FORESTRY CORPS 

Enormous quantities of timber were in constant demand to 
meet the evergrowing requirements of the armies in the field. The 
glorious old forests of England and the magnificent parks, because 
of the stern necessities of war, were attacked by companies of 
Canadian lumbermen in an endeavour to meet the situation. It 
was a sad sight to see, as I did, miles of forest in Devon levelled 
to the ground, but no worse than to see the grand old forest of 
Nieppe near Merville in France steadily shrinking imder the attacks 
of British and Canadian woodmen, until after two years it was just 
a shell, from which the meat had been removed. Fortunately, for 
each tree felled in England a sapling has been planted, so that a 
practical system of reforestation came into being. 

THE ARMY SERVICE CORPS 

The transportation of the vast quantities of supplies, ammuni- 
tion, food, equipment, clothing and the thousand and one other 
requirements of a modern army in the field devolved chiefly upon 
the Army Service Corps. The system included railhead supply 
detachments, divisional trains, corps and divisional supply col- 
umns, ammunition sub-parks, three field butcheries, four field bak- 
eries, supply depots, as well as headquarters for horse and mechanical 
transport, two reserve parks and a re-enforcing pool for personnel. 
The majority of the Army Service Corps personnel were too old 
for the trenches physically imfit or men incapacitated by woimds. 
Their Hf e was largely one of drudgery and monotony. 

It was of coiu*se impracticable to transport everything all the 
way up from the base as required, so that stocks of supplies were 
assembled lq dumps, the advanced central dump being the corps 
dump. Further forward were the divisional dumps and further 
forward still, as close as was consistent with safety, were the brigade 
dumps. Nothing could give one a better idea of the reasons why 
war is so expensive than to visit the huge dumps covering acre after 
acre at the various French ports. They were astounding both in 
the area involved and the enormous quantities of material and 
equipment gathered together. Nothing was allowed to go to waste 
in the army, and salvage companies were formed for the sole purpose 
of collecting and storing debris of all description which could possibly 
be converted into something else useful. Even bully beef tins are 



The Canadian Auxiliary Services 397 

collected. The odds and ends were gathered at the salvage dumps 
usually placed near ordnance dumps, under the control of the 
Assistant Director of Ordnance Services. Wherever possible hght 
railways were used for the transport of salvage instead of motor 
transport. 

THE ORDNANCE SERVICE 

The Ordnance Service had imder its supervision the suppHes 
of the Canadian Corps heavy artillery, the Canadian Corps ammu- 
nition parks, the inspection of di^dsional ammunition dumps, 
brigade and regimental bomb stores and battery ammunition 
dugouts, railhead ordnance offices, laboratories, salvage dumps, 
laundry and baths — a formidable catalogue of duties. 

A unique feature of the repair work undertaken by this service 
was that of the corps ordnance mobile workshop. This unit 
travelled from point to point carrying out inspections and repairs 
to trench mortars, howitzers, guns and water carts. 

Experiments and inventions were reported upon, while every 
idea designed to promote efficiency was carefully tried out by officers 
of the Ordnance Service. 

SIGNAL CORPS 

The smooth direction of the whole complex system of huge 
organization behind the line — no less than the handling of large 
masses of troops in the field — depends absolutely upon the nervous 
system of the army, the Signal Corps. A collapse of the signal 
service would result in the complete paralysis of the army. 

Instant and imbroken communication must be kept up from 
each section of trench through battahon, brigade, division and 
corps headquarters right up to the general headquarters. Without 
such communication it would be utterly futile to attempt to control 
the huge fighting machine which modem warfare has brought into 
being. The Signal Corps must therefore consist of highly trained 
specialists who are thoroughly proficient in the use of flags, double 
and single, the lamp for night signalling, the heliograph and discs, 
while others are expert telegraph operators. 

It is only after months of the hardest and most exacting 
work that the best candidates graduate from the signalling schools. 
Those unable to reach the required standard are returned to their 
units. 



398 Canada's Sons in the World War 

The duties of signallers and linesmen in the front line demanded 
an almost incredible degree of courage. The network of telephone 
lines running back from observation posts and front line trenches 
to batteries and battalion headquarters had to be kept in repair 
imder the worst bombardments. The forward observation officer 
and his signaller crouched perhaps in some foul shell hole, with 
all their faculties concentrated on registering the effect of their 
battery's fire and correcting it over the telephone, while enemy 
shrapnel and high explosive burst about them unnoticed. If 
the wire was cut and the forward observation officer thereby 
separated from his battery the latter instantly became blind. And 
when, as frequently happened, the wire was cut, the linesman 
crawled from the trench and all alone disappeared to find and mend 
the break, armed only with pliers and copper wire. Such work 
required courage of the very highest order. 

VETERINARY CORPS 

Beyond the railheads on disrupted roads and trails the horse 
played a part of inestimable value. To the Canadian Army 
Veterinary Corps was delegated the responsibihty of keeping up 
the supply of horses and mules, caring for their physical weKare, 
and preventing the spread of disease. Besides the veterinary officers 
in charge of this work in divisions and brigades there was a mobile 
veterinary section to look after horse casualties, bring up remounts, 
supervise the quafity of fodder suppUed, and in general see that the 
horses of the division were thoroughly looked after. 

CHAPLAIN SERVICE 

The noble work of the army chaplain cannot be described 
or measured in words. The army chaplain of the type who is 
fearless — a man's man — did an incalculable amount of good at the 
front. No other kind was of much use. They had to meet on a 
common ground of imderstanding the hopes and fears of all sorts 
of men who were face to face with the elemental facts of life and 
death. Practically all denominations were represented in the 
chaplain service. 

To the spiritual side of their work, to the noble duty of bringing 
consolation to the troubled in spirit, comfort to the wounded, faith 
and hope to the living and peace to the dying the Canadian chaplains 



The Canadian Auxiliary Services 399 

devoted themselves with zeal. But they undertook many other 
duties such as looking after recreation huts, cinema shows and 
Hbraries. Special services and Bible classes were also held in 
England and personal visits made to all men in hospital. Univer- 
sity extension work was also carried on by the chaplains, hundreds 
of students enrolling for these classes. 

In France the chaplain estabhshed soup kitchens and coffee 
stalls close to the front Hues when an offensive was about to take 
place, so that wounded soldiers returning to the rear could get some 
refreshment and a cigarette. Several canteens were also operated 
by the chaplains in France. But above all the chaplain did not 
forget the fact that his chief duty was to bring spiritual comfort 
and solace to the soldiers who had been committed to his charge. 
Many thousands of men before battle have been comforted in soul 
and strengthened in heart by the last sacred services held by 
chaplains and prepared for whatever might be before them. 

POSTAL CORPS 

When the First Canadian division went overseas the officer 
commanding the Canadian Postal Corps went with it taking with 
him, with one exception, the whole personnel. The officer left 
behind had to create a postal service for all Canadian base details, 
and in 1915 the corps was reorganized as an independent unit. 
Wherever new training areas were opened new base or field post 
offices were formed. In 1916 arrangements were made to estabfish 
postal staffs at every regimental command, and discharge depot. 
Every man had to be followed as he moved from place to place and 
his mail readdressed so as to reach him. About thirty per cent of 
all mail had to be readdressed. Ninety per cent of all mail matter 
addressed to Canadian troops in England and France passed 
through the Canadian London base. In October, 1917, for example, 
650,000 pieces of mail had to be redirected w^hile over 8,000,000 
pieces were handled altogether in England. 

In France the task of the Assistant Director of Postal Service 
was much more difficult from the fact that mail had to be deUvered 
to troops constantly on the move. Yet every man, no matter how 
often transferred or moved, received his mail matter promptly. 
The system in use was briefly the following: 

At the Canadian railheads in France mail was received in 



400 Canada's Sons in the World War 

bags properly sorted. They were then conveyed by lorry to the 
mail dump, from which they were carried through the divisional 
field post offices to brigades and other units. Regimental mail 
orderhes called daily at their respective brigade post offices to 
receive the mail for their respective units. The letters and parcels 
were dehvered daily to the men, while the mail for the sick and 
wounded followed them quickly to the hospital to which they had 
been sent. 

PAY AND RECORD OFFICE 

When Canada took the field with a single division the Pay and 
Record Office existed as a single small department. After the 
arrival of the contingent in England the staff found itself confronted 
with innumerable extraneous problems. In 1915 the office was 
divided into two, the Pay Office and the Record Office. 

It required over $100,000,000 a year to finance the Canadian 
army overseas. The money required was deposited in the Bank of 
Montreal and the money drawn out and passed down through 
the chief paymaster and the advances branch, through all the 
departments to the various field formations. 

The branch which concerned itself with the man's pay handled 
the accounts of over 300,000 men. The task of keeping them up to 
date involved about 4,000,000 entries a month. The pay office 
would send money anywhere for a soldier, even to a prisoner of war. 
A staff of 2,000 men was required to cope with work of the pay 
office in England. 

The Canadian overseas base pay unit in France was estab- 
lished in February, 1915, and carried out the work connected with 
the payment of troops in the field. Field cashiers or divisional 
paymasters, usually located at divisional headquarters, supervised 
the work of unit paymasters. 

The regimental paymasters, in addition to paying non-com- 
missioned officers and men, cashed cheques for officers, issued 
leave cheques to men going on leave, despatched the effects of 
men killed to the base and, in general, performed the duties of 
assistant adjutant and record officer. 

RECORDS OFFICE 

In order that the part played by Canadians in the World War 
would not become a confused and indistinct memory the Canadian 



The Canadian Auxiliary Services 401 

Records Office had, in addition to keeping records of all documents 
relating to personnel, etc., the function of sifting over, collating 
and preparing historical material while it was in the course of 
making. 

Every document turned in, from the war diary of the head- 
quarters staff to the personal narrative of a private, was read and 
filed and condensed accounts of actions prepared from them. 
Escaped prisoners of war were also interviewed and their impressions 
filed away. 

The aim was to supply a collection of historical material to 
meet the demands of the future historian, while official photog- 
raphers and cinematographers of the War Records Office went 
forward and made records which will visuaHze war and its terrors 
to future generations. 

From the above outHnes, sketchy though they be, of the 
v/ork of the Army AuxiUary Services, excepting the work of the 
medical and dental corps and some of the work of the ordnance 
service which appears in another chapter, it will be seen that 
the work of the actual fighting man iq the front line was only made 
possible through the efforts of probably two other men behind the 
lines. These saw to it that the narrow fighting fringe of the army 
was kept in the very best possible condition; failure on the part of 
any one service spelled disaster to the whole. If the army service 
failed to supply food; the ordnance service to supply ammunition; 
the engineers to supply bridges, wire and water; the army medical 
corps to evacuate the woimded and prevent disease, or if any other 
branch failed one can readily see that the whole system would fall to 
the ground. In thinking of the war, credit must be given to the 
men who were not actual combatants, but who often worked under 
shell fire and cheerfully carried on the laborious monotonous 
humdrum work which made the army efficient. On the work of 
these auxiliary services the success or failure of an offensive 
frequently rested. 



23 



CHAPTER XXVIII 
The Great Allied Drive 

In mid July, 1918, Ludendorff had shot his bolt on the western 
front. He had abeady stretched his line from 195 to 250 miles 
and could expand it no further. Everywhere the Alhes had brought 
the German rushes, which had developed the Mame, Picardy and 
Lys salients, to a standstill. 

Immediately Foch assumed the initiative and crushed in the 
three salients in succession with the aid of his army of manoeuvre. 
He then proceeded to develop two sahents at each end of the 
Hindenburg line — at Laon on the south and at Cambrai on the 
north. The third phase began to develop in mid October with 
attacks at both ends of a hne representing 200 miles of Belgian 
frontier. The enemy had lost 300,000 men and 5,000 guns suice 
the Alhes had assumed the offensive. 

On September 12th and the week following the St. Mihiel 
salient was eliminated by American troops, while on September 18th 
the outer works of the Hindenburg line were penetrated by the 
British. 

The latter enabled further advances against Cambrai, and the 
penetration of the Hindenburg line towards St. Quentin by the 
British and the movement agaui Laon by the French. These 
three movements haviag been exploited the two great flank attacks 
made possible the advance of the Franco-American armies in the 
Champagne and that of September 28th by the Belgians, French 
and British in western Belgium and ultimately resulted in the 
crushing in of the enemy centre and the retreat of the whole German 
army. 

THE RECOVEKY OF SOISSONS 

On July 18th Marshal Foch, having his armies ready and 
his plans fully matured, delivered the first great counter-stroke 
on the front between Chateau-Thierry and Soissons which changed 
the whole fortune of the war. The French had, after the British 

(402) 




403 



404 Canada's Sons in the World War 

offensive at Cambrai, realized that the tank was the ideal method 
of breaking down enemy defences and began building a small type 
of tank in large numbers. These RejTiaud tanks resembled the 
British whippet tanks which had already given excellent satisfaction. 
When the Germans began their great offensive in March the French 
had few tanks ready and did not use them; when the middle of July 
had come they had large numbers of these tanks. 

The exposed western side of the deep saHent towards Paris 
received the first weight of the aUied blow, when, on July 18th, 
French and American troops attacked the twenty-seven-mile front 
between Soissons and Chateau-Thierry. No preliminary bombard- 
ment was used but fleets of tanks advancing broke through the 
enemy defences with the same success that Sir JuHan Byng had 
achieved at Cambrai in the previous autumn. 

In conjunction with the French the Twenty-second British 
corps on July 20th attacked on the eastern side of the saHent towards 
Rheims, on a front of 8,000 yards. The attack in the face of 
determined resistance w^as carried on continuously for ten days 
and Tvith the aid of French artillery and tanks penetrated to a depth 
of four miles, during which 1,200 prisoners were taken. 

Meanwhile, on the western side of the saHent the Fifteenth and 
Thii'ty-fourth British divisions attacked and for a week had also 
very heavy fighting on different parts of this front; these divisions, 
which greatly distinguished themselves, were withdrawn in the early 
days of August. 

In the fii'st day the French advanced from three to eight miles 
and the Americans five miles. Five thousand prisoners and thirty 
g-uns were captured the first day. By nightfaU on July 19th the 
AlHes had 17,000 prisoners and 360 guns. Two days later the 
AIHes were crossing the Marne and the enemy began blowing up 
ammunition dumps. 

There were thirty-five German divisions -^dthin the saHent in 
danger of envelopment unless they could extricate themselves. On 
July 26th they were forced to begin a general retreat from the 
saHent and, fighting obstinately, they were driven beyond the 
points from which their offensive began. By August 2d the AIHes 
re-entered Soissons and the whole length of the enemy Hne from 
Hartennes to Soissons had been roUed up. 

Simultaneously smaller successful operations were carried out 



The Great Allied Drive 405 

by the Allies in front of Amiens and in the Lys Valley against the 
armies of Prince Rupprecht. As a result the Germans kept falling 
back behind fresh river lines such as the Aisne, the Vesle, the Avre 
and the Ancre. 

On August 4th, on the fourth anniversary of the declaration 
of war, it was announced that 300,000 Americans had been safely 
transported to France during the previous month. On that day 
Mr. Lloyd George, the British Premier, in a message to the British 
nation, said: '^Hold fast. . . . Our prospects of victory have 
never been so bright as they are today.'* 

PLAN OF FOCH's OFFENSIVE 

At a conference held on July 23d, when the success of the 
attack on July 18th was assm'ed, methods for extending the allied 
advantage were discussed in detail. Marshal Foch asked that the 
British, French and American armies should each prepare plans 
for local offensives to be undertaken as soon as possible. These 
were to be of the type of Hmited objectives. The British were 
called upon to free the Amiens-Paris railway by an attack on the 
Albert-Montdidier front. The French and Americans were to 
free other strategic railways by operations farther to the south 
and east. 

There were strong arguments for the disengagement of the 
Hazebrouk centre through the recapture of Kemmel Hill combined 
with an attack towards La Bass^e. Such an operation would 
improve our position at Ypres and Calais, would reduce the Lys 
salient and remove the threat from the Bruay coal mines. 

It was arranged subsequently that converging attacks would 
be made toward Mezieres by the French and American armies 
while the British armies would attack along the St. Quentin- 
Cambrai line, striking at the vital lateral communications running 
through Maubeuge to Mezieres. This line alone suppHed the 
German front in the Champagne. The advance of the British 
armies towards Maubeuge would also threaten the communications 
of the German armies in Flanders. 

It was of vital importance to the enemy that he maintain 
intact the front opposite St. Quentin and Cambrai and for this 
purpose he depended on the great fortified zone known as the Hin- 
denburg line. 



406 Canada's Sons in the World War 

GENERAL PLAN OF BRITISH OPERATIONS 

The Amiens attack was the prelude to a great series of battles 
in which, through three months of continuous fighting, the British 
armies advanced without a check from one victory to another. 

The mighty conflict may be divided into two well-defined 
phases. 

In the first phase of the struggle the enemy endeavoured to 
defend himself in the deep belt of prepared positions extending 
from Albert and Villers Bretonneux to the Hindenburg line between 
St. Quentin and the Scarpe. From these positions, the scene of the 
stubbornly fought battles of the two preceding years, the German 
armies were forced back step by step by a succession of methodical 
attacks which culminated in the breaking through of the Hindenburg 
line defences. 

In the second phase of the struggle our troops were operating, 
in practically open country against the enemy who endeavoured 
to make a stand on such natural or semi-prepared positions as 
were left to him, for periods long enough to enable him to organize 
his retreat and avoid overwhelming disaster. 

Throughout the second period the violence of the British 
assaults and the rapidity of their advance towards the enemy's 
vital centres of communication about Maubeuge threatened to 
cut the main avenue of escape for the German forces opposite the 
French and German armies. The enemy armies in Flanders also 
were equally endangered by our progress behind their left flanks, 
while the alhed forces under the King of the Belgians forced their 
retreat. To the north and south of the area in which the victorious 
British armies were driving f orvv^ard through his weakening defences 
the enemy was compelled to execute hasty withdrawals from wide 
tracts of territory. 

The second phase had already reached its legitimate con- 
clusion when the signing of the armistice put an end to hostihties. 
Finally , defeated in the great battles of the 1st and 4th of November, 
and utterly without reserve, the enemy at that date was falling 
back without coherent plan in widespread disorder and confusion.' 

THE BATTLE OF AMIENS 

The objects of the attack in front of Amiens were to disengage 
Amiens itself, free the Paris-Amiens railway, and cut the com- 



The Great Allied Drive 407 

munications of the German forces in the Lassigny and Montdidier 
regions by capturing the important railway junction of Chauhies. 

The attack was to be made by the Fourth Army under General 
Sir Henry Rawlinson, who was also given the Canadian Corps, two 
British divisions and the First French Army underGeneral Debeney. 
In order to deceive the enemy, Canadian battalions were sent north 
to the Kemmel region and were speedily identified by the enemy. 
The appearance of Canadian troops in the line meant an offensive, 
and the enemy became certain that an attack was impending in 
the Lys region. Furthermore, the impression was given of a gi*eat 
concentration of tanks near St. Pol and training operations were so 
carried out behind the lines that the enemy aeroplane reconnaissance 
confirmed the impression that a great attack was to be launched in 
the north. 

The Canadian Corps was then moved into the line by night, 
the tanks and cavalry secretly concentrated at the last moment, 
and on August 8th the attack was laimched. 

The front of General Rawlinson's Fourth Army extended from 
the Amiens-Roye road to Morlancourt, a distance of eleven miles. 
On the right was the Canadian Corps under Lieutenant-General 
Sir Arthur Currie, with the First, Second and Third Canadian 
divisions in line and the Fourth Canadian division in close support. 
In the centre was the Australian corps imder Lieutenant-General 
Sir John Monash, with the Second and Third Austrahan divisions 
in fine and the Fourth and Fifth in support. On the left, north of the 
Somme River, was the Third British corps with the Fifty-eighth 
and Eighteenth British divisions in line and the Twelfth division 
in support. Thus eight out of the eleven infantry divisions were 
Colonial troops. 

The British cavalry corps, two motor machine-gun brigades 
and a Canadian cycHst battaHon were concentrated behind the 
British front to be attacked. The French First Army, on the 
right of the British, was to attack on a five-mile front and gradually 
extend this southward to Braches. 

The British bombardment, which opened at 4.20 a. m., on 
August 8th, smothered the enemy batteries; the assault by tanks 
and infantry took the enemy completely by surprise and our first 
objectives were rapidly gained. Cavalry and fight tanks then 
passed ahead to exploit the situation and by night we had com- 



408 Canada's Sons in the World War 

pleted an advance of between six and seven miles south of the 
Sonune. 

North of the Somme the British divisions were held, but the 
Colonials on the south, with the aid of cavalry and tanks, had 
captured 13,000 prisoners, nearly 400 guns and vast quantities of 
stores and ammunition. At nightfall the enemy was blowing up 
dumps in all directions while his transport and artillery streamed 
eastward towards the Somme offering excellent targets to our 
airmen. 

The British conmiander-in-chief, in his despatch, said: 

The brilliant and predominating part taken by the Canadian and 
Australian corps in this battle is worthy of the highest commendation. 
The skill and determination of these troops proved irresistible and at 
all points met with rapid and complete success. 

To the right the attack of the French army had also succeeded 
and 2,350 prisoners and many guns were captured on the first day. 

The sweeping success achieved on the first day was exploited 
and the advance continued rapidly, much ground and many pris- 
oners and villages being taken. By the evening of August 12th 
we had reached the old German Somme defences of 1916 along the 
old general Roye-Chaulnes defence. This area, overgrown with 
tall weeds, traversed by old barbed wire and pitted with shell 
holes, offered magnificent opportunities for machine-gun defence, 
and the enemy resistance began to stiffen. Accordingly the attack 
was broken off at this point in order to begin an attack in the 
direction of Bapaume. 

The results of the battle of Amiens were very great. In five 
days Amiens and its railways had been rendered safe; twenty 
German divisions had been badly defeated, 22,000 prisoners and 
over 400 guns had been captured and an advance of twelve miles 
made in a vital sector. 

The effect on the morale of both armies was enormous. The 
enemy, previously buoyed up by hopes of an early peace and con- 
vinced that the Allies were exhausted, was suddenly beaten and 
thrown back with heavy losses of men, guns and important ground. 
The effect upon him was most depressing and the reaction of a 
deep and lasting character. 

On the British army the effect was just the reverse. The 




FAMOUS talTISH GENERALS 

General Smith Dorrien, British Corps Commander in the famous retreat from 
Mons; Generals Plumer, Rawhnson and Byng, Commanders on the Western Front; 
General Birdwood, Commander of the Australian-New Zealand troops at Gallipoli. 



The Great Allied Drive 411 

British troops felt that their hour had come, and that, supported 
by artillery and numerous tanks, they could now press forward to 
reap the reward of their patient and indomitable defence of March 
and April. And later, as they moved confidently forward from one 
success to another, their previous suffering, danger and losses were 
alike forgotten in their desire to beat the enemy. 

BATTLE OF BAPAUME 

The enemy was next attacked by the British in the region 
between the Somme River and the Scarpe where his left flank was 
exposed because of the Fourth Army advance. The region selected 
between Albert and Arras permitted of the use of tanks, while the 
attack, if successful, would be a step forward towards the strategic 
objective St. Quentin-Cambrai. The opening attack was made by 
Byng's Third Army, on August 21st, and the divisions of the 
Fourth Army north of the Somme. Supported by tanks the 
enemy's foremost defences were carried rapidly and without diffi- 
culty, 2,000 prisoners being taken the first day. Next day the 
Fourth Army attacked and 2,400 more prisoners were taken. The 
main assault was deHvered on August 23d on a thirty-three-mile 
front supported by 100 tanks and again proved successful. Five 
thousand prisoners and some guns were taken, and after severe 
fighting the German positions on the Thiepval Ridge and around 
Ovillers were taken. Pozieres, Courcelette, Martinpuich, Mirau- 
mont, Grevillers, St. Leger and many other towns were captured 
on August 24th. 

During the next five days of heavy fighting the advance was 
continued and on August 29th Bapaume was evacuated by the 
enemy. By the night of August 29th alhed infantry had reached 
the left bank of the Somme on the whole front from Nesle to Peronne. 

On August 31st the Second AustraUans, after hard fighting, 
captured Mt. St. Quentin and Peronne, bringing to a close the 
second stage of this offensive, during which thirty-five German 
divisions had been driven from one side of the old Somme battlefield 
to the other. Very heavy casualties had been inflicted upon the 
enemy while 34,000 prisoners and 250 guns had been taken from 
him. 

The enemy morale was now clearly deteriorating, for garrisons 
left as rear guards surrendered as soon as they found themselves 



412 Canada's Sons in the World War 

threatened with isolation. The enemy had also been forced to throw 
in his reserves piecemeal and was evidently becoming disorganized. 

BREAKING THE DROCOURT-QUIEANT LINE 

In order to extend the flank of the sahent opposite Arras 
the First British Army, on August 26th, drove eastward from Arras. 
The attack by the Second and Third Canadian divisions and the 
Fifty-first Highland division was completely successful and the 
operation was immediately followed up with great energy. By the 
end of the month the advance had brought us within assaulting 
distance of the powerful trench system running from the Hindenburg 
line at Queant to the Lens defences about Drocourt. The breaking 
of this would turn the whole of the enemy^s organized positions on a 
wide front southward. 

The powerful Drocourt-Queant line was broken, the maze 
of trenches at the juncture of that line and the Hindenburg system 
was stormed and the enemy was thrown into precipitate retreat on 
the whole front to the south of it. The Canadian First and Fourth 
divisions and the Fourth British Division attacked on a four-and-a- 
half-mile front south of Trinquis Brook, supported by forty tanks, 
mobile machine-gun units and armoured cars. By noon the whole 
of the elaborate system of v/ire, trenches and strong points con- 
stituting the Drocourt-Queant Hne was in our hands. 

At the same time the Seventeenth corps, employing the 
Fifty-second, Fifty-seventh and Sixty-third divisions, attacked the 
triangle of fortifications marking the junction of the Hindenburg 
and Drocourt-Queant Hnes and also met with complete success. 

Our troops had pushed forward over three miles along the 
Arras-Cambrai road and had taken 8,000 prisoners and many guns. 
The fighting was of the fiercest description but our troops were not 
to be denied and bore down all opposition. 

As a result of the successes at Amiens, Bapaiune and the 
Scarpe, which included the taking of Monchy-le-Preux and the 
Drocourt-Queant line, the enemy fell back rapidly on the whole 
front of the Third Army and the right of the First Army. This 
withdrawal continued until, by September 8th, he was holding the 
general Hne, Vermand-Epehy-Havrincourt, and thence along the 
Canal du Nord. This withdrawal extended to the south on the 
front of the French forces to the right of the British, 



The Great Allied Drive 413 

In the battle our troops followed the enemy closely, doing 
great execution among his retiring columns with forward guns and 
aeroplanes, and taking many prisoners. Ten British divisions, by 
overthrowing thirteen German divisions, gave the signal of the 
general retreat which resulted in the capture of 16,000 prisoners and 
about 200 guns. 

THE ST. MIHIEL SALIENT 

The St. Mihiel sahent had existed since the line settled do^^n 
after the first German failure to advance on Paris. It was thrust 
forward in front of the Metz gap between the fortresses of Verdim 
and Toul and reached the Httle town of St. Mihiel commanding 
the railway which Hnked the two cities. It formed a triangle with 
sides approximately twenty miles in length. There were few roads 
in the salient but the enemy had constructed a light railway from 
Thiaucourt to St. Mihiel 

To the new American First Army of seven divisions in the 
front line and seven in reserve, containing 168,000 bayonets in all, 
together with divisions of French troops, was assigned the task of 
straightening out this line. The force under the American General 
Pershing was assisted by French and Enghsh air squadrons, French 
artillery and tanks. 

On September 12th the American Army, after a four hours' 
bombardment, attacked from both sides of the triangle exposed, 
and by afternoon had advanced over the low hills, capturing Thiau- 
court, Pannes, Nonsard and Montsec. The cavalry pushed on 
towards VigneuUes in the centre of the saUent. From the western 
side the Americans quickly reached Combres and the two converging 
forces were within ten miles of each other. French troops had 
meanwhile thrust for^^ard at the point of the wedge and the three 
enemy divisions in the triangle were in danger of envelopment; 
8,000 prisoners were taken. 

On the second day the converging American armies met, 
trapping large numbers of Germans in the pocket foniied. In all 
443 guns and 16,000 prisoners were captured. The defeated Ger- 
mans now began to retreat between the River Meuse and the 
Moselle, a retreat which extended over a front of thirty-three miles. 
Ablancourt, Fresnes, Boncourt, Haimiont and Remembercourt 
were all taken and only when the heavy guns of Metz twelve miles 



414 Canada^s Sons in the World War 

away came into action did the enemy resistance begin to stiffen. 
A break through by the Allies at this end of the line might have 
endangered the entire enemy armies in France, or have cut off those 
operating in the east from those in Flanders. The enemy accord- 
ingly greatly strengthened his forces at that point at the expense 
of the rest of the front, and the allied advance was checked. 

BATTLE OF HAVRINCOURT AND EPEHY (SEPTEMBER 12-18) 

North of Havrincourt the enemy had taken shelter behind the 
strongly defended Canal du Nord; south of Havrincoiul) the enemy's 
main line of resistance was the well-knowTi Hindenburg line which 
ran to the Scheldt Canal at Bantouzelle whence it followed the line 
of the canal to St. Quentin. 

Strong positions in front of Havrincourt and Epehy had to 
be taken before a final attack on the Hindenburg line could be made. 
On September 12th the Third British Army attacked the Havrin- 
court sector and captured it. The Third and Fourth armies again 
attacked on a seventeen-mile front with the co-operation of the 
First French Army south of Holnon. Our troops penetrated the 
deeply fortified belt for a distance of three miles, captiu-ing prac- 
tically the whole of oiu* objectives. On the extreme right and in the 
left centre about Epehy the very determined enemy resistance was 
overcome, leaving the Hindenbiu-g defences open to assault. Fifteen 
British divisions had defeated twenty German divisions, capturing 
nearly 12,000 prisoners and 100 guns, and completing the fourth 
stage of our offensive. 

DEVELOPMENT OF THE ALLIED PLAN 

It was now decided between the allied commanders, after 
the success of the First American Army at St. Mihiel, to laimch 
four convergent and simultaneous offensives as follows: 

1. By the Americans west of the Meuse in the direction of 
Mezieres. 

2. By the French west of Argonne in close co-operation with 
the American attacks and with the same general objective. 

3. By the British on the St. Quentin-Cambrai front in the 
general direction of Maubeuge. 

4. By Belgian and allied forces in Flanders in the direction of 
Ghent. 



The Great Allied Drive 415 

By those means the important German forces in front of 
the French and Americans would be pressed back upon the difficult 
countiy of the Ardennes, while the British were to break through 
upon the principal German line of communication. At the same 
time it was intended to turn the flank of the Germans, weakened 
by attacks elsewhere. 

THE FAMOUS HINDENBURG LINE 

The Scheldt Canal, between St. Quentin and Bantouzelle, was 
an integral part of a deep defensive system but was chiefly valuable 
in affording cover to resting troops and the main defensive trench 
lines during a bombardment. The canal in that sector ran through 
cuttings sometimes sixty-one feet deep and in one place passed 
through a tunnel 6,000 yards long. Along the top edge of the cuts 
the enemy had numberless concrete or armoured machine-gun 
emplacements. The sides of the cuts were burrowed with numerous 
tunnels and dug-outs. The tunnel itself was used to provide living 
quarters for large numbers of troops and was connected with the 
trenches on the surface of the groimd by shafts. South of Bellicourt 
the canal became shallow and south of Bellenghse it became dry. 
On the western side of the canal were two thoroughly organized 
and extremely heavily wired lines of continuous trench at distances 
of 2,000 and 1,000 yards respectively. This constituted the Hin- 
denburg line proper. 

There were numerous trench lines, switch trenches, and com- 
munication trenches heavily wired and so situated as to meet local 
weaknesses or take advantage of favorable fields of fire. 

Behind the easternmost trench lines at a distance of about 
4,000 yards was a second double row of trenches very thoroughly 
wired and holding numerous concrete shelters and machine-gun 
emplacements. The whole series of defences, with the numerous 
defended villages contained in it, formed a belt of country varying 
from 7,000 to 10,000 yards (four to six miles) in depth. It was 
organized by the emplojmaent of every available means into a most 
powerful system well meriting the great reputation attached to it. 

&T. QUENTIN 

On September 18th the Fourth British Anny under Sir Henry 
Rawlinson and the First French Army under Debeney attacked and 



416 Canada's Sons in the World War 

carried the outer defences of the Hindenburg Ime at two points 
northwest of St. Quentin. Massed attacks with hea\^ artillery 
concentration against the newly won British position failed all 
along the twenty-two mile front. This enabled Rawlinson's left 
and the Third British Army under Sir JuHan Byng to carry the 
offensive farther. On September 27th Byng's Third Army including 
the Canadian Corps and Home's First Army, with the Thirtieth 
American division, advanced along a fourteen-mile front towards 
Cambrai. This attack, which crossed the Canal du Nord and the 
Hindenburg Hne at several points, resulted in the capture of 6,000 
prisoners and several villages. Next day the advance was con- 
tinued and several more towns and 4,000 additional prisoners were 
captured. Over 200 guns were taken in the two days. 

On Septem^ber 29th Rawlinson's Foiu'th British Army after 
bombarding the enemy lines for two days crossed the Scheldt Canal 
while the American di\dsion captured Bellecourt. 

On the Fourth Army front, the Forty-sixth British division 
(Major-General G. F. Boyd) greatly distinguished itself in the 
capture of Bellenglise. The village is situated in the angle of the 
Scheldt Canal, which, after running in a southerly direction from 
BeUicourt, here bends sharply to the east toward the Le Tronquoy 
Tunnel. Equipped with lifebelts, and carrying mats and rafts, 
the Forty-sixth division stormed the western arm of the canal at 
Bellenghse and to the north of it, some crossing the canal on foot- 
bridges which the enemy was given no time to destroy, others 
dropping do"^Ti the sheer sides of the canal wall, and, having swiun 
or waded to the far side, climbing up the further wall to the German 
trench Hues on the eastern bank. Having captm^ed these trenches, 
the attacking troops swung to the right and took from flank and rear 
the German defenses along the eastern arm of the canal and on the 
high ground south of the canal, captiuing many prisoners and 
German batteries in action before the enemy had had time to 
realize the new direction of the attack. So thorough and complete 
was the organization for this attack, and so gallantly, rapidly, and 
well was it executed by the troops, that this one division took on 
this day over 4,000 prisoners and seventy gims. 

The advance towards Cambrai forced the enemy to abandon 
the Lens coal area, after he had done the maximum amount' of 
damage and flooded the mines. The First Britigh Anny now 



The Great Allied Drive 417 

advancing captured towns six miles from Douai while Byng's 
Third British Army reached a point five miles northwest of Cambrai. 

St. Quentin, in the centre of the Hindenbm*g line, is the key 
to the railway line between France, Belgium and Northern Germany. 
At one time it was part of the dowry of Mary Queen of Scots, 
when she married Francis II. It was protected by the elaborate 
Hindenburg line, the Somme and St. Quentin canals. One of the 
reasons for its great importance was the fact that it was a dis- 
tributing centre for a considerable portion of the German front 
and was connected with the Belgian front by a three-tracked 
railway. 

When Generals Rawlinson and Debeney penetrated the western 
section of the Hindenburg line they quickly took advantage of 
their advance and pushed forward steadily, capturing many towns, 
until, by October 1st, they were in the outskirts of St. Quentin itself. 
Next day they entered the city, to discover that the civiUan popu- 
lation of 50,000 souls had been deported. 

Advancing northeast of St. Quentin the British took Le Catelet 
and crossed the Scheldt Canal. 

During those nine days of great and critical assaults the 
First, Third and Fourth British armies stormed the line of the 
Canal du Nord and broke through the Hindenburg line and brought 
to a close the first phase of the British offensive. The enemy's last 
and most powerful defensive system had been shattered and the 
whole of the famous Hindenburg Hne had passed into our possession. 

The effect upon the subsequent course of the campaign was 
decisive. Nothing now lay between our armies and Maubeuge 
but the natural obstacles of a wooded and well-watered countryside. 

Thirty British and two American divisions with one British 
cavalry division had overwhelmingly defeated thirty-nine German 
divisions in the strongest entrenched position ever constructed and 
taken 36,000 prisoners and 380 guns. The deterioration of German 
morale was thereafter most marked. 

LAON 

Foch made his attack towards Laon from the St. Gobain 
Forest on the west and the Berry-au-Bac Hne of the Aisne on the 
southeast, instead of by a frontal attack such as P^tain had 
attempted the year before. On September 28th General Mangin 



418 Canada's Sons in the World War 

commenced his advance against the German line, and on October 2d 
captured several towns between the Aisne and the Vesle River. 
General Bertholet on his right advanced towards Berry-au-Bac ten 
miles north of Rheims. This was captm-ed on October 7th. Gen- 
eral Mangin had occupied nearly the whole of the Chemin des 
Dames and the Germans were being driven from the Craonne 
plateaux. The strongholds of La F^re and Laon were acquired with 
Httle resistance. The vertex of the German salient in France was 
eliminated and thereafter the advance to the Aisne was rapid. 

CHAMPAGNE OFFENSIVE 

The attack in the sector from Rheims to the Cotes de Meuse 
began on September 26th, two days previous to the Belgian-British 
offensive in Flanders. The French imder General Gouraud 
advanced from the Suippe River east to the Argonne Forest; the 
American First Army attacked from the Argonne Forest to the 
Meuse River north of Verdim. In the first day the French advanced 
from three to four miles and the Americans from five to six. By the 
end of the second day 10,000 prisoners had been taken. The 
Americans continued their advance down the Meuse taking niuner- 
ous towns, while the French, advancing rapidly on September 29th 
and 30th, gained the position controlling the railway jimction of 
Charllerange. 

On October 4th the Americans went through the last organized 
enemy defence south of the Belgian frontier. On the following 
day the French drove back the enemy on a twelve-mile front and 
the next day pursued him on a wide front north and northeast of 
Rheims for a distance of eight miles. On October 11th the French 
took over the entire line of the Suippe and the Americans began a 
new offensive east of the Meuse. In sixteen days the Fourth 
French Army had taken 21,567 prisoners and 600 guns. 

The First American Army on October 15th took Hill 299 and 
on the following day seized the important strategic point of Grand 
Pre and consoHdated their positions beyond the Kriemhelde fine. 
The French, on October 18th, crossed the Aisne River near Vouziers. 

FLANDEES OFFENSIVE 

The British fleet on September 28th was busily engaged in 
bombarding the enemy coast defences from Nieuport to Zeebrugge, 



The Great Allied Drive 419 

and on the following day King Albert^s Belgian Army and the 
British Second Army, under Sir Herbert Plimier, broke through the 
German Hnes on a ten-mile front between Passchendaele Ridge and 
Dixmude, penetrating the enemy positions for five miles and 
capturing 4,000 prisoners. On the following day the Belgians had 
arrived within two miles of Roulers, capturing 1,500 more prisoners. 
Next day Roulers was taken by them. The British, on September 
30th, overran Passchendaele Ridge and came within two miles of 
the railway junction of Menin, while to the southeast they reached 
the Lys River on a four-mile front between Wameton and Wervicq. 

A new French army under General Degoutte arrived in this 
sector and a great enveloping movement was begim. This quickly 
wiped out the remains of the salient developed by the Germans on 
April 9th. The Belgian advance continued beyond Roulers and the 
British advance between Roulers and Courtrai. 

On October 14th a furious attack from Comines to the sea was 
made towards Ghent and Courtrai by the British, French and 
Belgians, and signs of disintegration of the enemy armies rapidly 
made their appearance. On October 16th under the alUed pressure 
the great German retreat from western Belgium began, closely 
followed by oiu* armies. The Fifth British Army, now reorganized 
under General Birdwood, began the envelopment of Lille and 
occupied it on October 17th after the enemy had evacuated that 
city so beloved by the people of northern France. 

On the day after the Germans began their retreat from Belgium 
the Ostend and Zeebrugge submarine bases were evacuated, as were 
many Belgian cities. 



CHAPTER XXIX 
From Amiens to Mons With the Canadians 

The front held by the Canadian Corps on January 1, 1918, 
reached from Acheville to Loos, a distance of 13,000 yards. Certain 
changes designed to increase the fighting efficiency of the division 
were carried out by the corps commander by increasing the 
strength of each battaUon by 100 and reorganizing the engineers 
and machine-gun sections. 

The ground held by the Canadian Corps was that captured 
by the Canadians during the battle of Vimy Ridge and subsequent 
operations. It had been greatly strengthened by the construction 
of successive defensive lines, and a complete system of roads, 
trench railways and water supply installed. Close behind it lay 
the coal collieries of northern France and a break through at this 
point would have had far-reaching tactical and strategical results. 
It was confidently expected that this vital sector would be attacked 
during the looked-for German offensive and every effort was made 
to secure it against surprise attacks. Two hundred and fifty miles 
of trenches, 300 miles of barbed wire entanglements and 200 tunnelled 
machine-gun emplacements were completed by the Canadians in 
carr3dng out their task. 

During January little activity took place on the enemy front, 
but during February and March he carried on much work preparing 
for an offensive, raiding the Canadian lines and carrying on artillery 
shoots with explosive and gas shells. Retaliatory measures soon 
caused a cessation in this type of warfare. 

When the initial German offensive occurred, on March 21st, 
the Canadian Corps, under the command of Lieutenant-General 
Sir Arthur Currie, K.C.B., G.C.M.G., contained four divisions. 
These were commanded by Major-General Sir A. C. Macdonell, 
First Canadian division; Major-General Sir H. E. Burstall, Second 
Canadian division; Major-General L. J. Lipsett, Third Canadian 
division; Major-General Sir D. Watson, Fourth Canadian division. 

The account here given of the last thrilling one hundred days 

(420) 



SKETCH > SHOWING SECTORS HELD BY 

TjTi CANADIAN CORPS 

^* '- OAN /'/- MAR 24-*f' 1916. 




Where the Canadians Held the Line at the Beginning op the 
Great Enemy Attack of March 21, 1918 



421 



422 Canada's Sons in the World War 

of the war with the Canadian Corps is largely taken from the official 
narratives of the Canadian Corps connnander and the official 
correspondent of the overseas ministry. 

On the early morning of March 21, 1918, the enemy lamiched 
his great attack on the fronts of the Fifth and Third British armies. 
It was soon evident that the opening stages of the battle were 
going in favor of the Germans. The Canadian Corps was at that 
time holding the line in front of Vimy Ridge from Mericourt to 
Hill 70, with the Second division in rest at Auchel. The great 
German offensive did not directly engage the Canadians, but at 
3.50 p. M., March 21st, the Canadian Corps headquarters received 
the first order from army headquarters, setting the corps in motion 
on a period of activity which did not cease till the armistice. 

At 3.50 p. M. on the 21st the First Army ordered the Canadian 
Corps to take over the front of the Sixty-second division in the 
Acheville section. 

During the night of 22d to 23d the First Canadian Motor 
Machine Gun brigade, then in the line on the Vimy sector, was 
withdrawn and by midnight following all batteries were in action 
on a thirty-five-mile front east of Amiens, having traveled over one 
hundred miles during the day. 

The First C. M. M. G. brigade (Lieutenant-Colonel W. K. 
Walker), under orders of the Fifth and later Fourth Army, was 
ordered to fight a rearguard action to delay the advance of the 
enemy, and to fill dangerous gaps on the army front. For nineteen 
days that unit was continuously in action north and south of the 
Soname, fighting against overwhelming odds. It fought over 200 
square miles of territory. It is difficult to appraise to its correct 
extent the influence, material and moral, that the forty machine 
guns of that unit had in the events which were then taking place. 
The losses suffered amounted to about seventy-five per cent of the 
trench strength of the unit. 

Then followed a period of activity for the Canadian Corps, as 
various divisions were despatched hither and thither depending 
upon where the German advance seemed most threatening. On 
one night, for example, the First Canadian division was moved 
by bus to the Couturelle area but at dawn the enemy struck heavily 
along the Scarpe River and the First division, at 10 a. m. next 
morning, was ordered to retain the busses and return to the Arras- 



From Amiens to Mons With the Canadians 423 

Dainville area. As some of the busses had returned and the roads 
were crowded with troops on the move the move was difficult but 
the division extricated itself and returned. 

This constant shifting of the Canadian divisions resulted 
in the corps being split up and the divisions being placed under 
three different corps in two armies. This was not at all satisfactory 
to the Canadian Corps commander and he made strong representa- 
tions to the army commander offeiing suggestions which would 
reconcile the Canadian poHcy with the tactical and administrative 
requkements. As a result two divisions were returned to the corps 
on March 29th. 

On April 8th the Canadian Corps was holding a front of nine 
miles and the Second division a front of two and a half miles. This 
only allowed of the front being very lightly held, and Sir Arthur 
Currie organized two special brigades made up of tunnelling com- 
panies, pioneers, re-enforcements, and other odds and ends as a 
reserve, and in addition to these measures each division organized 
its own "last resort reserves," consisting of the personnel left 
at transport Hues, and detailed to defend definite locaUties. 

"Every contingency," says Sir Arthiu*, "was prepared for 
down to the minutest detail, and nothing could be more inspiring 
than to witness the extraordinary spirit displayed by everybody 
in their untiring labor and ceaseless vigilance." 

Extended almost to the breaking point, in danger of being 
annihilated by overwhelming attacks, the corps confidently awaited 
the assault. All ranks of the corps were unanimous in their ardent 
resolve to hold to the very last every inch of the ground entrusted 
to their keeping. 

It was for them a matter of great pride that their front was 
substantially the only part of the British lines which had not 
budged. 

PREPARATION FOR THE BATTLE OF AMIENS 

The First, Third and Fourth Canadian divisions, by May 7th 
were in reserve, training in open warfare and exercises calculated 
to improve the health and spirits of the troops. The Second 
Canadian division remained in the line just south of Arras. 

The Amiens operation was first discussed at a conference 
on July 21st at which the Canadian Corps commander was present. 



SKETCH 

MOVE OF CANADIAN CORPS 
TO AMIENS FRONT 




Prepabing for the Battle of Amiens 
Map showing transfer of Canadian corps from Arras to Amiens. General 
Currie says: "These moves were carried out by strategical trains, busses and 
route marches with the utmost secrecy." 



424 



From Amiens to Mons With the Canadians 425 

It was most essential that the enemy should be taken by surprise 
in this most vital sector and elaborate plans were made to deceive 
him. The Canadians were known as ''shock troops'' and their 
appearance generally indicated an offensive. Accordingly, while 
plans were carried out for an attack on Orange Hill, in front of 
Arras, two Canadian battalions were sent north to the Kemmel 
area where they were promptly identified. Wireless outfits were 




The Sweep op the Canadian Corps 

Map showing allied drive August 5-17, 1918. The shaded portion indicates the 
14-mile advance of the Canadians. General Currie says: "The surprise had been 
complete and overwhelming. ... A captured German officer stated that the Can- 
adians were beheved to be on the Kemmel front." 

also sent into the same sectors and messages transmitted for the 
purpose of being picked up by the enemy's intelhgence branch. 
Two clearing stations were also sent into the same area. Meanwhile, 
ostensibly for a Canadian attack on Orange Hill, tanks were 
ostentatiously assembled near St. Pol. 

An army order issued on July 29th stated that the Canadian 
Corps was to move northward to the Second British Army area. 
On the same day the Canadian divisional commanders were told 



426 Canada's Sons in the World War 

of the impending operations in front of Amiens but were instructed 
not to discuss the matter with their subordinate commanders. 

In order to further deceive our own troops as to their destination 
a letter issued by the First Army was repeated to all Canadian units 
stating that the Canadian Corps was being transferred to the 
Fourth Army. 

When the actual order came to move few knew either of the 
destination or the future plans of the corps. All formations 
traveled by night. In spite of enormous difficulties the plans of 
the staff were carried out to the letter and on the night of August 
7th infantry, cavalry, artillery, tanks, engineers, motor machine 
guns and other arms of the service were mobilized in Gentilles Yv^ood 
and its neighbourhood. 

It is interesting to know that in spite of the tremendous diffi- 
culties of the move every man received his rations, his parcels 
and letters from home, and even the Y. M. C. A. and Padres had 
succeeded in bringing along huge boilers of tea and quantities of 
chocolate, biscuits, and cigarettes which were given away to all 
gratis. At the rear everything was in readiness to forward 
supplies and munitions as soon as the attack began, while the ambu- 
lances were ready to receive the inevitable toll of wounded. Need- 
less to say it was quite a feat to concentrate such huge numbers of 
men, horses, guns, tanks and material without causing suspicion 
in the enemy. To drown the noise of the tank engines clanking 
forward diu^ing the night large bombing planes flew low over the 
trenches and drowned the sound so effectively that nothing seemed 
to be suspected by the enemy. 

On the right of the 20,000 yards of front to be attacked was 
the First French Army, in the centre the Canadian Corps, on the left 
the Australian corps and left of that again the Third British corps. 

The Canadian front was about 8,500 yards long and the 
Canadian division, numbering from the left were the Second, First 
and Third with the Fourth in reserve. Each division had an 
allotment of tanks. The general scheme of attack was to rapidly 
push through the enemy's forward area for some two miles under 
cover of a dense artillery barrage, overcome the machine-gun 
defences with tanks and let the cavalry through together with 
the supporting force of motor machine guns, cyclist battalion and 
Newton mortars on trucks. 



From Amiens to Mons With the Canadians 429 

The attack began at 4.20 a. m., on August 8th, and was imme- 
diately successful at all points. No registering shots had been fired 
by the artillery and in consequence the enemy was taken completely 
by surprise when our barrage fell on him quickly followed by our 
men. There was a mist which hid the infantrymen's signals for artil- 
lery support and for once the weather favored us. As the infantry 
went forward oiu* field guns limbered up and followed while the 
^'heavies'' came on shortly after. Taking their locations as pre- 
viously arranged they recommenced their methodical firing by the 
map. 

The cavalry came into action about noon. Horses and guns 
extended along a five-mile front to a depth of 1,000 yards. As they 
rode into action our men cheered them enthusiastically for they 
made a fine appearance dashing here and there routing out machine 
gunners and riflemen and co-operating with the tanks to clear the 
ground for the men to advance. 

By night the Canadians had advanced 14,000 yards, captiu-ed 
6,000 prisoners, 100 guns and large amoimts of material. 

On the day following the advance continued for another four 
miles with a maximum penetration of six and a half miles at some 
points. On the 10th the attack was continued along the old Sonmie 
area of 1916 where old trenches and wire overgrown with weeds 
afforded the enemy excellent shelter and defences for machine guns. 

Powerful enemy reserves had now arrived to stem the attack 
of the Canadian and Australian troops. Six fresh enemy divisions 
and a number of batteries had arrived and were fighting in heavily 
entrenched positions. Accordingly the Canadian Corps com- 
mander considered it inadvisable to attempt further progress by 
infantry fighting and recommended that rather than waste the 
strength of the corps upon operations which would not bring 
adequate results the Canadians should be withdrawn, rested for a 
few days and used to make another surprise attack towards 
Bapaume. 

The Canadian Corps was relieved on the 19th and the front 
handed over to the Austrahan corps. 

In the battle of Amiens, from August 8th to August 22d, 
the Canadians had fought and overcome ten German divisions, 
while five others had been partially engaged. They also captured 
9,131 prisoners, 190 guns and more than 1,000 machine guns and 



430 Canada's Sons in the World War 

trench mortars. In all sixty-seven square miles containing twenty- 
seven towns and villages had been captured by them, and the 
depth of front penetrated vras fourteen miles. 

The rear of an advancing army is almost more interesting 
than the front because there is more to see and more time and 
opportunity to see it. Back of the infantry moved the guns ever 
edging forward to new locations, while field ambulances, hospitals, 
mobile repair shops, railheads, supply dumps, horse lines, head- 
quarters and transport settlements followed in the wake of the 
advance. 

The casualties suffered by the Canadian Corps in the fourteen 
days of heavy fighting amounted to 579 officers and 10,783 men. 

BATTLE OF CAMBRAI 

The Canadian Corps then moved up to Arras for the battle of 
Cambrai and the Hindenburg line. The attack in front of Arras 
was planned for August 26th which gave the Canadians three days 
to concentrate. The Canadian Corps, now flushed with their 
great \dctory, were keen for the coming attack. 

There were four main systems of defences facing the Canadians 
comprising the old German front fine east of Monchy, the Fresnes- 
RomToy line, the Drocourt-Qu^ant line and the Canal du Nord 
line, making, without doubt, one of the strongest defensive systems 
on the western front. As a preliminary to attacking the old German 
system it was essential to capture the old British lines lost in 
the recent fighting, organized in depth some 5,000 yards and 
dominated by the height of Monchy. 

CANADIANS CAERY MONCHY 

On August 26th,^at 3 a. m., the attack was launched under 
the usual artillery and machine-gun barrages. It made good 
progress, the village of Monchy being entered early in the day after 
a brilHant encircling attack carried out by the Eighth brigade 
(General D. C. Draper) . The enemy fought strenuously, and several 
counter-attacks were repulsed. Three German divisions were 
identified and 2,000 prisoners captured. On the 28th the attack 
was resumed by the Second and Third divisions, the fighting 
was most severe, and at nightfall the general line of the Second 
division was little in advance of the line held the night before, 



From Amiens to Mons With the Canadians 431 




SKETCH No. 3a. 

SKOWINQ GCnERAL SITUATION 

FOLLOWING 
Th: AOVANCe TOWARD ROYE 



TnE New Objectives: Bapaume, Roye and Lassigny 

Map of the battle front in France, August 20, 1918. Of the fighting at this time 
General Currie says : "The battle was now in full swing on the centre and southern 
parts of the Somme salient. North of the Somme the British Third Army made some 
local attacks on the 21st, and on the 24th attacked heavily on a broad front in the 
direction of Bapaume. On the whole Somme salient the Germans were retiring slowly, 
fighting a stubborn rearguard action, actively pressed everywhere by the aUied armies." 



432 Canada's Sons in the World War 

although a few small parties of stubborn men were still as far forward 
as the wire of the Fresnes-Rouvroy line. Enemy re-enforcements 
were seen dribbling forward all day. 

On the 30th, following the reported capture of Hindcourt by 
a British division, the First division attacked the Vis-en-Artois 
switch, Upton Wood and the Fresnes-Rouvroy line. The attack, 
a daring manoeuvre organized and carried out by the First brigade 
under cover of very ingenious barrages, was eminently successful. 
It was necessary to postpone the attack on the Drocourt-Queant 
line imtil September 2d, and the day of September 1st was 
employed in minor operations to improve the jumping-off Hne. The 
important strong point, known as the Crow's Nest, was captured by 
the Third brigade. 

THE FAMOUS DROCOURT-QUl^ANT SWITCH LINE 

The major attack against the Drocourt-Qu^ant switch line 
was launched on September 2d, and, assisted by tanks, progressed 
rapidly. The infantry captured both the famous Drocourt-Queant 
switch itself on a front of 7,000 yards, and its support line, including 
the village of Dury. Wired trenches and sunken roads however 
prevented the armoured cars and Tenth Royal Hussars from getting 
through to the Canal du Nord. In spite of the fact that the enemy 
had concentrated eight divisions opposite the Canadian Corps the 
latter would not be denied and a penetration of 6,000 yards and the 
capture of 5,000 prisoners testified to the success of the day's work. 

The Germans v/ere confident that this hne, a sort of national 
life-belt, would prove impregnable. This confidence appeared to be 
justified, for it consisted of five lines of trenches heavily wired and 
fortified, while deep dug-outs and tunnels formed a maze of under- 
ground works; yet the trench system which took more than two 
years to build was carried by the Canadians in less than an hour. 

THE CANAL NORD LINE 

To attack the Canal Nord position required time for reorganiza- 
tion and preparation. The canal was under direct observation, 
was heavily wired and to carry it successfully meant that the 
operation had to be part of a general scheme which took time to 
arrange. 

In the interval the Canadian division was rested and refitted 




BrEAKINQ the HDfDENBURG LiXE 

The shaded portions show the intricate Hindenburg defence system. 'The arrows 
•show the Canadian attacks. Heavy black line is the line of September 3, 1918: broken 
hne to the left is the alUed line of July 15th. 



434 Canada's Sons in the World War 

and as much artillery as possible taken out of the line. Wire cutting 
operations, counter battery work and gas concentration were 
carried on against the enemy in preparation for the final operations. 
Ammunition dumps and huge piles of bridging material required 
for the Canal Nord were brought forward and everything necessary 
got in readiness. 

During this period Major General, Lipsett, commanding officer 
of the Third Canadian division, a fine soldier and a brave gentleman, 
truly loved by all Canadians in France, was transferred to the 
command of the Fourth British division and was succeeded by 
Brigadier-General Loomis. When General Lipsett was killed in 
action shortly afterwards his death was felt to be a personal loss by 
every Canadian soldier. 

The attack of September 27th by the Canadian Corps was 
part of a large offensive. The Canadians had a battle front of 
6,400 yards along the canal but on only 2,600 yards of this was it 
possible to effect a crossing. After crossing on this narrow front 
the Canadians were expected to expand fanwise until they held a 
front of 15,000 yards. The Canadians were to protect the left 
flank of the Third Army, seize the high ground overlooking the 
Sensee Valley and capture Bourlon Wood. 

At 5.20 A. M. an eighteen-pounder crashed twice, upon which 
the whole front broke into a terrific roar. A heavy barrage preceded 
the infantry and the First and Fourth Canadian divisions advanced, 
accompanied by tanks. At seven o^clock the Foiu*th di\'ision was 
1,000 yards beyond the Canal Nord, while the First division was 
rolhng up the Canal Nord fine. The enemy fought very stubbornly 
but our infantry, advancing under a most carefully planned barrage, 
kept steadily advancing. Meanwhile the engineers, working 
feverishly, constructed bridges over which light, medium and heavy 
guns passed and went into action at the gallop. 

The rapidity of our advance astonished the enemy, many 
guns were taken and by nine o'clock the Fourth division had 
reached the outskirts of Boiu-lon Wood, which was captured by 
one o'clock. Meanwhile the *^01d First" division had seized its 
objectives and was hanging on. 

Our line had been pushed forward 7,000 yards at its farthest 
point, and 4,000 prisoners and 102 guns as well as hundreds of 
machine guns had been captured in this fine bit of tactical work. 



From Amiens to Mons With the Canadians 435 

Next day, September 28th, the Third, Fourth and Fu-st Cana- 
dian and Eleventh British divisions continued the advance with 
the Seventeenth British corps on our left. Heavy fighting was 
encountered but by evening the Canadian line had been advanced 
3,000 yards and oiu* front was estabhshed on the high ground 
overlooking Cambrai. Another 1,000 prisoners and thirty guns 
were captured during the day. 

On Sunday, September 28th, the fighting became heavier, and 
though 3,000 yards advance was made in places, other sections 
were held up by machine-gun fire, notably the First division whose 
flank had become exposed owing to the failure of British troops 
on the left to keep pace with them. Prisoners captured September 
30th stated that they had been instructed to hold the ground 
at all cost. 

On October 1st the enemy, flinging wave after wave of infantry 
upon our line, made a desperate endeavour to check our advance, 
without any consideration of the cost of life exacted. 

To quote Sir Arthur Currie: ^^The tremendous exertions and 
considerable casualties consequent upon the four days' almost 
continuous fighting had made heavy inroads on the freshness and 
efficiency of all arms. On the other hand it was known that the 
enemy had suffered severely, and it was quite possible that matters 
had reached a stage where he no longer considered the retention 
of this position worth while. It was, therefore, decided that the 
assault would be continued on October 1st. The attack made 
excellent progress in the early stages. The decision of the enemy 
to resist till the last quickly manifested itself. About 10 a. m. 
heavy counter-attacks developed. 

*'To continue to throw tired troops against such opposition 
without giving them an opportunity to refit and recuperate, was 
obviously inviting a serious failure, and I accordingly decided to 
break off the engagement. The five days' fighting had yielded 
practical gains of a very valuable nature as well as 7,059 prisoners 
and 205 guns. We had gone through the last organized system of 
defence on our front, and our advance constituted a direct threat on 
the rear of the troops to the north, and their withdrawal had now 
begun. 

'^ Although the ground gained on the 1st of October was not 
extensive the effects of the battle and of the previous four days' 



436 Canada's Sons in the World War 

fighting were far-reaching and made possible the subsequent 
advances of October and November, in so far as the divisions 
engaged against the Canadian Corps di-ew heavily on the enemy's 
reserve which had now been greatly reduced. 

''It is worthy of note that the enemy employed six divisions to 
re-enforce the four divisions already in the line, making a total of 
ten divisions engaged since September 27th by the Canadian Corps. 
In the same period only three additional divisions and one regiment 
were employed by the Germans to re-enforce the front from Honne- 
court to Cambrai, a front of approximately 18,000 yards. This 
comparison of employment of resen^es showed clearly that the 
enemy was greatly perturbed by the success of our advance and the 
serious threat it offered, especially to his northern defences.'' 

THE CAPTURE OF CAMBRAI 

The high ground to the north and northwest of Cambrai 
was now in Canadian hands, the British were approaching on the 
other side of the town and there was but one thing left for the 
enemy to do. 

In five days of continuous battle the four Canadian divisions, 
the Eleventh British and part of the Fifty-sixth British division 
had crossed the Canal Nord, and had won one commanding position 
after another in the face of a most bitter opposition, which in itself 
indicated how vital was the groimd to the enemy. In the final two 
days he had used twelve divisions in coimter-attacks vainly trying 
to stem our advance. 

Some idea of the casualties which the enemy must have sus- 
tained may be gauged from the fact that on one day, October 1st, 
we used 7,000 tons of shells. 

"At 4.30 A. M., October 8th, the Third Army attacked, and 
at the same hour an artillery demonstration was carried out on the 
Canadian front. In spite of the darkness of a rainy night the 
Canadian attack was launched successfully at 1.30 a. m.^ October 9th. 
Rapid progress was made. Cork bridges were throTVTi across the 
canal and the Third division patrols were pushing into Cambrai 
before dawn." 

Said Mr. James, official correspondent: 

"At half -past one o'clock on the morning of October 9th, 
in utter darkness, the Canadians entered Cambrai. They took the 



From Amiens to Mons With the Canadians 437 



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438 Canada's Sons in the World War 

garrison of the town by surprise, quickly obtained the upper hand 
in all the numerous instances of street encounters and house-to- 
house fighting, reached and occupied the Place d'Armes, and from 
there spread throughout the entire area. By daylight they were 
clear of the southeastern edge of the city and well along the Avenue 
de Valenciennes; in the southwest they were estabhshed at the 
Paris Gate. Units of our Third division pressed due east to the 
line of the Scheldt Canal, secured all bridgeheads as far as Eswars, 
and captured several villages and hundreds of prisoners. By 
6 A. M. our engineers had spanned the canal with a pontoon bridge. 
British troops on the right won to the road leading to Le Cateau. 

'^We had refrained from shelling Cam-brai, hoping to get 
possession of it unbroken. With this end in view we had moved 
against it without artillery preparation, had entered it and over- 
come the resistance of its garrison with bayonet and machine gun. 
But oxu" care went for nothing. Again the Hun played true to his 
nature and his reputation. Explosions great and small, followed 
in some cases by the crashing down of roofs and walls, in others by 
the leaping up of fires, resounded from all quarters of the town 
throughout the day of oiu* occupation. Our men fought the garrison 
— ^but they could not foresee or forestall the explosions. The city 
had been thickly planted with mines and incendiary bombs by the 
enemy, before his flight. The time fuses and other detonating con- 
trivances had not been set for a simultaneous explosion. Singly 
and in couples, now in one street and again in another, the detonating 
of mines and bombs continued all day, varied occasionally by the 
bursting of shells. The Place d'Armes, intact at the time of our 
entrance, was a square of ruins by nine o^clock that morning. The 
destructive work of these set explosives was somewhat feebly 
assisted by occasional shells." 

''The battle of Arras-Cambrai, '' said the corps commander, 
''so fruitful in results, was now closed. Since August 26th, the 
Canadian Corps had advanced twenty-three miles, fighting for every 
foot of the ground and overcoming the most bitter resistance. In 
that period the Canadian Corps engaged and defeated decisively 
thirty-one German divisions, re-enforced by numerous marksmen 
and machine-gun companies. These divisions were met in strongly 
fortified positions and under conditions most favorable to the 
defence. 



From Amiens to Mons With the Canadians 439 

'^In this battle 18,585 prisoners were captured by us together 
with 371 guns, 1,923 machine guns, and many trench mortars. 
Over 116 square miles of French soil containing fifty-four towns and 
villages and including the city of Cambrai were hberated. The 
severity of the fighting and the heroism of our troops may be 
gathered from the casualties suffered between August 22d and 

October 11th, which are as follows: 

Officers Other Ranks 

Killed 296 4,071 

Missing 18 1,912 

Wounded 1,230 23,279 

Total 1,544 29,262 

*' Considering the great number of German divisions engaged, 
and the tremendous artillery and machine-gun fire power at their 
disposal the comparative Hghtness of our casualties testified to 
the excellence of precautions taken by divisional, brigade and 
regimental officers to minimize the loss of life, having ever in 
mind the performance of their duty and the accomplishment of 
their heavy task." 

PURSUING THE ENEMY IN THE OPEN COUNTRY 

While some of the Canadians endeavoured to save Cambrai 
from the flames others pushed forward on the enemy's heels. After 
being held before the flooded Canal de la Sensee for a few days, 
patrols found, on October 17th, that the Germans were falling back 
under cover of a thick fog. On the following day practically all 
of the infantry of the First and Fourth divisions had crossed the 
canal and the enemy was closely pursued with the aid of cyclists, 
cavalry and mounted machine-gun units. 

The enemy's demoHtion of roads, bridges and railways was 
well planned and thoroughly carried out, and the reconstructive 
work necessary taxed the resources of the engineers in men and 
material to the utmost. During the advance a large number of 
towns were hberated, and as the civilian population had been left 
without food the duty of feeding these devolved upon the Canadians. 
Over 70,000 civiHans were thus Hberated and looked after before 
Valenciennes was reached, and the extra work devolving upon the 
horse transport of the Army Service Corps in bringing up the vast 
quantities of food necessary was very great. 



440 Canada's Sous in the World War 

On October 19th the advance continued on the whole corps 
front, Denam being captured that day. In this large town ^Hhere 
were over 20,000 civilians to greet the Canadians when they 
entered the place on the heels of the retreating Germans, who 
greeted our men with indescribable enthusiasm. They were told by 
the enemy that if they displayed flags or any signs of rejoicing 
the town would be bombed, but the French people knew differently, 
and when the infantry swarmed into the town at one end as the 
Boche galloped out of the other, flags of the AlHes appeared as if by 
magic. 

^'As soon as the occupation of Denain had been definitely 
estabhshed, a well-known French Canadian officer was sent forward 
as the town commandant. Earlier in the war this officer was 
awarded the Legion of Honour by the French authorities for gal- 
lantry in the field, and when the civiHans saw the ribbon of this 
honour on his tunic and found that he was a French Canadian, he 
was given a welcome and reception that could not have been more 
demonstrative or sincere to the President of the French Repubhc 
(H* the King of the British Empire. The men shook his hand until 
his arm ached and the women kissed him in the most hberal and 
unabashed manner. He is now regarded by them as a kind of 
president or king. His word is law, and his instructions are obeyed 
with a cheerful wilHngness." 

Meanwhile the Canadian cavalry had been busy and the 
following interesting account from the official correspondent of 
the overseas ministry shows that the war had not been robbed of its 
spectacular side altogether: 

'^Le Cateau fell to battalions of the Manchester, Lancashire, 
Dublin, and InniskilHng Fusiliers and the Connaught Rangers on 
the 10th of October; but the first British troops to enter the town 
were patrols of the Fort Garry Horse, a regiment of the Canadian 
cavalry brigade. In less than twenty-four hours the Canadian 
cavalrymen with other troops advanced eight miles on a three-mile 
front, cleared that section of the country of the enemy, and thus 
opened the road for the infantry to forge ahead without hindrance, 
except from a limited volume of shell fire, into Le Cateau, captured 
499 prisoners, several artillery pieces of different calibres, a few 
trench mortars, tank rifles, two motor-cars, 100 machine guns, and 
killed a large number of Germans, 



From Amiens to Mons With the Canadians 441 

"OjSicers and troopers were almost pulled from their horses as 
they passed up the streets by the women, who seemed to believe 
that the best way they could show their gratitude was to kiss every 
khaki-clad figure, mounted or dismounted, irrespective of rank or 
anything else. They were delirious with joy. They laughed and 
cried almost at the same time. In one village men and women 
rushed out of their houses with cups of coffee and bottles of wine, 
while machine-gun bullets from enemy positions ahead spat about 
the street. Immediate danger seemed of small consequence in 
face of the fact that deliverance had come after four years of serfdom, 
which the entry of the Canadians had brought to an end. One 
officer of Lord Strathcona^s Horse was pulled from his charger and 
forced to submit to a heavy barrage of kisses and embraces. This 
advance to Le Cateau is quite the most romantic experience the 
Canadian cavalry brigade has had. 

'^But the incidents with the French villages were only pleasant 
punctuations in an operation that produced some spectacular 
features. Several times the troopers used their sabres generously. 
One squadron of the Fort Garry Horse charged at the gallop into 
Cattigny Wood, where machine guns were making as much noise as 
a busy boiler factory produces; and before the wood was finally 
cleared, approximately 100 Germans were killed with the sabre, 
and those who escaped death, numbering 200, were taken prisoners. 

"An ojficer with a troop of the Fort Garrys in another case 
galloped down on a nest of fifteen machine guns. The Boche 
stood to his guns for a time, and directed such a fire on the charging 
cavalrymen that soon nearly all the horses were casualties. 
Undaunted, the troopers pressed forward on foot. By this time the 
Germans' nerves failed them, and they turned and fled and kept 
going eastward until rounded up by supporting forces on the right.*' 

CAPTURE OF VALENCIENNES 

The division had continued to push forward in face of an 
ever-increasing opposition until, on October 25th, the canal and 
inundated area in front of Valenciennes was encoimtered. Plans 
were prepared by the First Army to take the city by the Twenty- 
second and Canadian corps. The former was to take Mt. Houy on 
October 28th and the latter the high groimd overlooking Valen- 
ciennes from the south. The Twenty-second corps failed to take 



442 Canada's Sons in the World War 

Mt. Houy and the whole of the operation was turned over to the 
Canadian Corps. 

On November 1st the Canadian assault succeeded from the 
beginning and the objectives were quickly gained. Eight hundred 
enemy dead were buried and 1,300 prisoners captured while the 
Canadians had only eighty killed and 300 wounded. Valenciennes 
was freed of the enemy by night. 

'^Leap-frogging each other the four Canadian divisions main- 
tained their steady progress into the heart of the Belgium coal 
district, reaching the outskirts of Mons on the 10th instant, and 
during the night of November 10th to 11th the divisions resumed 
their advance, and immediately after dark the troops of the Seventh 
brigade commenced to close in, and an entry into Mons by way of 
the railway station was effected before midnight. By 6 a. m., 
November 11th, the stubborn machine-gun resistance had been 
broken and Mons cleared of the enemy. 

'^In the meantime word had been received through First Army 
that hostilities would cease at 11 a. m. on November 11th, the 
armistice having been signed on acceptance of our terms. To secure 
a satisfactory line for the defence of Mons our line was further 
advanced and six villages and two woods were captured. 

'^Between October 11th and November 11th the Canadian 
Corps had advanced to a total depth exceeding 91,000 yards, through 
a country in which the enemy had destroyed railways, bridges, and 
roads and flooded areas to further impede our progress. To the 
normal difficulty of moving and supplying a large number of men in 
a comparatively restricted area were added the necessity of feeding 
several hundred thousand people, chiefly women and children, left 
in a starving condition by the enemy. Several deaths by starvation 
were experienced in villages or towns which, being kept under hostile 
shell fire and defended by machine guns, could not be captured 
rapidly by our troops. 

'^When it is recalled that since August 8th the Canadian 
Corps had fought battles of the first magnitude, having a direct 
bearing on the general situation, and contributing to an extent 
difficult to realize to the defeat of the German armies in the field, 
this advance under most difficult conditions constitutes a most 
decisive test of the superior energy and power of endurance of our 
men. It is befitting that the capture of Mons should close the 



From Amiens to Mons With the Canadians 443 

fighting record of the Canadian troops in which every battle they 
fought is a resplendent page of glory. 

'^Between August 8th and November 11th, the folloT\dng had 
been captured: 

Prisoners 31,537 

Guns, heavy and field 623 

Machine guns 2,842 

Trench mortars 336 



<<, 



Over 500 square miles of territory and 228 cities, towns 
and villages had been Hberated, including the cities of Cambrai, 
Denain, Valenciennes, and Mons. From August 8th to October 
11th, not less than forty-seven German divisions had been engaged 
and defeated by the Canadian Corps, that is, nearly a quarter of 
the total German forces on the western front. After October 11th, 
the disorganisation of the German troops on our front was such 
that it was difiicult to determine with exactitude the importance 
of the elements of many divisions engaged." 

ON THE DAY OF THE ARMISTICE 

At 11 A. M., on November 11th, a great stillness came over 
the battle front, the more noticeable as the last shells had left the 
guns but a few minutes before. It was a justifiable pride that 
the Canadians felt in having added Mons, from which the great 
retreat of the British Army had begun in 1914, to their scroll of 
victories. The town that will live in British annals had been the 
beginning of the retreat of the finest force of British regulars that 
had ever taken the field; it was re-occupied by Canadian troops 
which the Germans in 1914 had contemptuously called '' Canadian 
Clodhoppers, " but whom they had long since come to fear as the 
most effective fighting force on the western front. 

The population of Mons, augmented by hundreds of civilians 
from nearby places, joined the mighty outburst of enthusiasm when 
the Canadian divisional commander handed over the tovMi to the 
people. Its streets were draped with flags and then came the 
march of the conclusion of the ceremonies, three cheers were given 
for King Albert from soldiers and civilians alike. 

During the great advance from Douai to Mons the depth of 
the advances made from day to day may be seen best from the foi- 



AAA 



Canada's Sons in the World War 



lowing table, which Sir Arthur Currie includes in this report* 
shows the daily advance, in yards, of the corps: 



It 



From 
October 



t( 



<( 



t( 



To 

11 October 

12 

17 

18 

19 

20... 

21 

22 

23 



(( 



(( 



If 



<c 



t( 



a 



t( 


24 


November 


November 


1 


a 




2 


li 




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4 


if 




5. .. 


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6. ... 


it 



tt 



tl 



it 



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8 

9 

10 



it 



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Yards 

12 4,000 

17 7,000 

18. 5,000 

19 12,000 

20 2,500 

21 5,000 

22 6,000 

23 3,000 

24 1,000 

1 3,500 

2 3,000 

3 2,000 

4 3,000 

5 1,500 

6 4,000 

7. 4,000 

8 3,500 

9 11,000 

10 1,500 

11 9,000 



Total 91,500 (about 52 miles) 

On November 12th, the day after the armistice was signed. 
King George sent the following message to the army: 

Germany, our most formidable enemy, who planned the war to gain 
supremacy of the world, full of pride in her armed strength and of contempt 
for the small British army of that day, has now been forced to acknowledge 
defeat, I rejoice that in this achievement the British forces, now grown 
from a small beginning to the finest army in our history, have borne so 
gallant and distinguished a part. Soldiers of the British Empire: . . . 
In France and Belgium the prowess of your arms, as great in retreat as in 
victory, has won the admiration of all — friends and foe — and has now by a 
happy historic fate enabled you to conclude the campaign by capturing 
Mons, where your predecessors of 1914 shed the first British blood. 
Between that date and this you have traversed a long and weary road. 
Defeat has more than once stared you in the face. Your ranks have 
been thinned again and again by wounds, sickness and death. But yoiu* 
faith has never faltered; yom* courage has never failed; your hearts have 
never known defeat. With your allied comrades you have won the day. 

Others of you have fought in more distant fields, in the mountains and 
plains of Italy, in rugged Balkan ranges^ under the burning sun of Palestine, 






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From Amiens to Mons With the Canadians 447 

Mesopotamia, and Africa, amid the snows of Russia and Siberia, and by 
the shores of the Dardanelles. 

I pray that God, who has been pleased to grant a victorious end to 
this great crusade for justice and right, will prosper and bless our efforts 
in the immediate future to secure for the generations to come the hard-won 
blessings of freedom and peace. 

The following telegram was received on November 12th by 
his Excellency the Governor-General, from his Majesty the King: 

'^At the moment when the armistice is signed, bringing, I trust, a final 
end to the hostilities which have convulsed the whole world for four years, 
I desire to send a message of greeting and heartfelt gratitude to my over- 
seas peoples, whose wonderful efforts and sacrifices have contributed so 
largely to secure the victory which is now won. Together we have borne 
this tremendous burden in the fight for justice and hberty. Together we 
can now rejoice at the reahzation of these great aims for which we entered 
the struggle. The whole empire pledged its word not to sheath the sword 
imtil our end was achieved. That pledge is now redeemed. The outbreak 
of war found the whole empire one. I rejoice to think that the end of 
the struggle finds the empire still more closely imited by the common resolve 
held firm through all vicissitudes by the community of suffering and 
sacrifice, by the dangers and triumph shared together. The hour is one of 
solemn thanksgiving and of gratitude to God, whose divine providence 
has preserved us through all perils, and crowns our arms with victory. 
Let us bear our triumph in the same spirit which we have borne our 
dangers, 

(Signed) George R. I. 

The Canadian troops crossed the German border on December 
4th, the First Canadian division at Poteau and another Canadian 
division further south. 

Sir Arthur Currie, commander of the Canadian Corps, who 
crossed the frontier unofl&cially the previous day, was accompanied 
by his staff including Prince Arthur of Connaught who had returned 
to his duties with the Canadian Corps and the general ofl&cer com- 
manding our First division, with his staff. 

The Canadian Light Horse furnished an escort and the infantry 
which was the first to pass the saluting point was the Third battalion 
of Toronto followed by the First battalion of Western Ontario and 
the Fourth and Second Canadian batteries. The corps commander, 
whose fine impressive figure is a rock of elemental streng-th and 
power, took the salute exactly on the boundary line. The first men 
to pass him marched to the tune of the Maple Leaf. It was a 



448 



Canada's Sons in the World War 



wonderful sight, the outward and visible sign of victory, so hardly 
won after four years of battle. 

THE STORY OF THE CANADIAN CAVALRY 

The Canadian cavalry brigade was formed in December, 1914, 
under General Seely, C.B., C.M.G., D.S.O., under whose com- 
mand it remained until May 20, 1918, when it came under the 
command of Brigadier-General Paterson, D.S.O., of the Fort 
Garry Horse, which had replaced the King Edward Horse in 
January, 1916. 




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WlSRUHE 



The Canadian Maech to the Rhine 
" Friday the Thirteenth " was the fatal day in German annals. December 13, 1918, 
was set as the date on which the Allies would cross the Rhine at all points to be 
occupied. On the morning of the 13th the Canadian Corps crossed the Rhine at Bonn. 

After serving as dismounted troops in the battles of Givenchy, 
Festubert and in front of Messines, the brigade again became a 
mounted unit ha 1916 preparatory to the Somme offensive. There 
it took part in the operations south of Albert and in the early part 
of 1917 during the German retirement to the Hmdenburg line. 

This was the first fighting m open country for over two years 
and the taking of the village of Ypres by the Fort Garry Horse 
marked the capture of the first village by the cavalry on the western 
front since the first months of the war. 

There were also the important engagements at the Bois de 



From Amiens to Mons With the Canadians 449 

Vallulart, Etricourt Station, Equancourt, Langasvenes, Lieramont, 
Gyancourt and Saulcourt during March 24th to 27th in which all 
regiments and the Royal Horse artillery brigade took part with 
great dash and determination. During these engagements it was 
discovered that German machine gunners who held out obstinately 
against infantry surrendered readily to the cavalry, which apparently 
inspired a considerable amount of fear. 

The cavalry brigade again became dismounted troops and 
occupied part of the trenches near St. Quentin and in May, 1917, 
carried out some successful raiding operations. 

In November the brigade, again mounted, took part in Byng's 
famous attack on Cambrai. One squadron of the Fort Garry Horse 
succeeded in crossing the canal by an improvised bridge, before 
orders countermanding the operation arrived, and galloped forward 
without support toward the German headquarters east of Cambrai. 
They succeeded in cutting up a number of German batteries but 
towards night were almost surrounded and had to cut their way 
back on foot after stampeding their horses. Later on at Vaucelette 
Farm Lord Strathcona's Horse drove back the enemy and re-estab- 
lished our Hne. 

During the German offensive of March 21st sent 800 dismounted 
men into the Hne at Vermand while the rest of the brigade mounted 
was attached to the Third cavalry division under Lieutenant- 
Colonel Paterson. This force re-established our Hne at Villeselve 
and were then ordered to take up a new Hne at Guiscard. From 
then on this force of Paterson^s, working with the French, did 
excellent work, helping to check German rushes at Mennesis, Bois 
de GenHs and other points of the British Hne and at Mesnil St. 
Georges and Fontaine in support of the French. On March 30th 
it went into action at Moreuil Wood and succeeded in driving the 
enemy from that important point which gave direct observation of 
Amiens. Another good bit of work was carried out by the brigade 
at Rifle Wood where they succeeded in taking their objective 
together with 120 prisoners and thirteen machine guns. 

Meanwhile the Royal Canadian Horse artillery which had 
been attached to the Twenty-fourth British division had been 
fighting a rear-guard action with that division during the whole of 
the retreat. 

For the first time in its career the Canadian cavalry brigade 



450 Canada's Sons in the World War 

fought with the Canadian Corps in the battle of Amiens. There 
the Canadian cavaby went into action at 9.15 a. m. along the 
Amiens-Roye road. It captured Fresnoy and did valuable work 
throughout the day co-operating with the tanks in clearing a way 
for the Canadian infantry. On the 9th it captured the village of 
Andechy for the French and seized the high ground north and west 
of Roye. 

The brigade did not go into action again till October 9th, 
when it advanced from Maretz and seized the high ground north- 
west of Le Cateau, patrols pushing forward into Cateau, Montary 
and Neuvilly-Inchy. Four hundred prisoners, 100 machine guns 
and several guns were taken on that occasion, while the operations 
along a three-mile front cleaied six villages and swept the enemy 
from the field. This was the brigade's last action until November 
11th, though the cavalrjrmen were pursuing the enemy east of Ath 
on that day. 

There were three Victoria Crosses and 391 other decorations 
won by the brigade which itself was mentioned by name in 
despatches for five different engagements. 

TWO REMARKABLE CANADIAN SOLDIERS 

It would be an incomplete chapter that did not deal with 
the men who have been responsible for the success of Canadian 
arms. It is obviously impossible to mention all or even a few of 
those responsible, but looking backward one sees two personahties 
that stand forth from all others : General Sir Sam Hughes, Minister 
of Militia of Canada for three years, and General Sir Arthur Currie, 
Commander of the Canadian Corps. 

SIR SAM HUGHES 

To General Sir Sam Hughes must be given the credit for having 
foreseen war with Germany, and preparing for it as well as he 
could under the conditions. He it was of all others who galvanized 
Canada into activity; he it was whose enthusiasm and driving 
power were so contagious that they affected not only his subordinates 
but the country at large. Sir Sam Hughes will be remembered for 
the building of Valcartier Camp and the despatch of the first 
Canadian Contingent. But he did other things of just as great 
importance. It was he who sought for and obtained for Canada 



From Amiens to Mons With the Canadians 451 

huge orders of shells from Great Britain and thereby made it 
possible for Canada to weather the financial storms, pay her way 
and emerge in better financial shape than she was when the war 
began. 

It is easy to elaborate and build up a business once estabUshed; 
the great credit must go to the man who estabhshes it. 

Sir Sam Hughes was also responsible for the selection of 
the officers who went overseas with the First Canadian Contingent. 
Among those who subsequently became commanders of Canadian 
divisions were Generals Sir Arthur Currie, Sir Richard Turner, Sir 
David Watson, General Mercer, Sir H. E. Burstall and General 
Lipsett. Of these General Sir Arthur Currie, who at first com- 
manded a brigade of the First division, became commander of the 
Canadian Corps* 

SIR ARTHUR CURRIE 

General Currie was born at Strathroy in Ontario. Going 
west he settled down in Victoria, B. C, as a young schoolmaster, 
from which profession he went into the life insurance business 
and real estate. In 1897 he joined the Eighth Canadian Garrison 
artillery as a private and three years later received his commission. 
His company soon became remarkably efficient and for seven years 
won the efficiency shield. In 1909 he was the officer commanding 
the regiment. 

In 1913 he resigned his command to raise a Highland infantry 
regiment — the Gay Gordons. He worked hard and when war 
broke out it was natural that he should have been given command 
of a brigade. 

In September, 1915, he was given command of the First 
Canadian division and in 1917 was made commander of the 
Canadian Corps. 

Currie has been one of the finds of the war. A general today 
to be efficient must have some of the quaHties of a business man 
as well as others. But he must be more. Any officer to have 
the respect and confidence of his men must be just and fearless. 
He must, if the occasion demands it, go into the danger spot and 
show no fear. The German method of keeping their officers safe in 
a shell-proof dugout is not the practice among British troops. The 
British soldier likes to see bis commanding officer and reaHze that 



452 Canada's Sons in the World War 

he too is willing to take all the risks. Of course we have lost many 
a valuable officer in that way, but many a situation has been saved 
by the commanding officer taking hold of an apparently hopeless 
situation and by his inspiring example saving the day. 

It was thought at one time that it was impossible for a man not 
trained in a staff college to become a great soldier. Critics thought 
at first that perhaps the credit that always came to Currie, no matter 
what he did, was due to his chief staff officer. But that officer 
left and was succeeded by another; he in turn passed on but the 
work of Currie seemed ever to improve. There was nothing left 
therefore but for the critics to admit that the success of Lieutenant- 
General Sir Arthur Currie was due to his own ability and no other. 
His outstanding success, hke that of Sir John Monash, a business 
man and the commander of the Australian corps, showed that a 
staff college course, though desirable, was not absolutely essential, 
and that ability, aptitude for the work, resourcefulness, opportunity 
and actual experience in the field were capable of producing great 
soldiers. 

Largely through the efforts of this big, quiet man, whose 
consideration, prudence and brilliancy had won the absolute con- 
fidence of officers and men, was the success of the Canadian Corps 
made possible. Always assured that the plans of attack were well 
matured, and that they would get their full share of artillery 
support when they went into an attack, men and officers had im- 
plicit confidence in their corps conmaander. As will be seen from 
the introduction to this book General Curriers thought, like that 
of all great commanders, was first and always for his men. 

And so it came about that the real estate dealer from the 
Province of British Columbia, by sheer ability, was able to elaborate 
a fighting force of incomparable effectiveness. Welded by sacrifice 
and glorious achievements, the Canadians were set the most difficult 
tasks and, as events proved, not in vain. 



CHAPTER XXX 
The Collapse of the Enemy 

When the aUied forces had failed to make an impression upon 
the Turkish forces in GaUipoH in August, 1915, by their final attack, 
it was realized that the effort to force the Dardanelles had definitely 
failed. The British had lost 113,000 men in killed and wounded 
while 97,000 more had been admitted to hospital for sickness. 
Late in October, 1915, General Monro, who had succeeded General 
Hamilton, recommended that the project be abandoned, an opinion 
approved of by the alHed governments. 

The evacuation of Gailipoli was as successful a bit of work 
of the kind as can be found in military history. The problem was 
an exceedingly difficult one. Our trenches were only about 300 
yards from those of the enemy and the beaches from which the 
embarkation had to be made were all under the range of Turkish 
guns. It was, moreover, impossible to embark the whole army at 
once. 

Accordingly it was determined to withdraw the army by 
degrees, leaving behind battalions to carry on the usual fire and 
deceive the enemy. The plan worked splendidly. Men, guns and 
ammunition were withdrawn by night to the beaches and trans- 
ferred to transports while the garrison kept up an appearance of 
warfare which completely deceived the Turks. The last troops from 
Suvla left on December 20, 1915, and by January 8, 1916, the 
evacuation had been completed. Charges with time fuses attached 
to the piles of stores and the few guns left for purposes of deception 
blew up as the last of the picked garrisons pulled away from the 
scene of one of the great and dramatic aUied mihtary failures. 

Part of the allied armies from Gailipoli moved to Salonika 
in front of which they settled down in entrenched positions pro- 
tected by wire and swamps. There was httle action in the Balkan 
theatre in 1916, though Greece was having an exceedingly difficult 
time keeping neutral. The Greek king and general staff believed 
that the Central Powers would win but their hereditary enemy was 

(453) 



454 Canada's Sons in the World War 

Turkey, in alliance with those powers. They were unable to join 
the Central Powers because of the allied army at Salonika and 
because the allied fleets could readily bombard and blockade the 
long Grecian coast line. 

The wisest, perhaps, of all European statesmen at the time 
was Venizelos who had been premier of Greece when the Greek 
Chamber was illegally dissolved by King Constantino in 1915. 
Venizelos was a great statesman who had the true interests of Greece 
at heart. During the previous Balkan wars he had proved himseK 
to be head and shoulders above his contemporaries. He realized 
better than the Greek nation that their whole interest lay in the 
success of the allied cause, which he, himself, beUeved would 
eventually prove victorious. 

The action of Greece in permitting the Bulgarian army to 
occupy Fort Rupel in Greek territory resulted in a pacific blockade 
of the Greek coast by the alUed fleets. EetaUatory attacks were 
made on the aUied embassies in Athens whereupon the Allies 
demanded the demobilization of the Greek army, a new election 
and the punishment of those guilty of the riots. These demands 
were acceded to, but before the election could take place the 
Bulgars, in August, 1916, advanced into Greek territory capturing 
Kavalla, without resistance from the Greek army. 

As a result of the action of the Greek army at KavaUa a revolu- 
tion broke out at Saloniki, and Venizelos, failing to induce King 
Constantine to act, became head of the Provisional Government 
of the Revolutionists. No poUcy could be agreed upon either by 
Constantine or the AlHes, but finally the situation became so 
unsatisfactory that on June 11, 1917, King Constantine was forced 
to abdicate. Next day he and his family left Greece for Switzerland, 
that retreat of many exiles. 

Venizelos again became Prime Minister and immediately 
proceeded to weld Greece together in the cause of the AlHes. Among 
other moves the Greek army was organized with a view to 
cooperation with the allied armies. 

In the month of November, 1917, the AUies had captured 
Monastir in Serbia, but httle other activity of a mihtary nature 
occurred for another year. Suddenly, in the midst of the wonderful 
movement by which Foch was beating back the German armies in 
France, the startling news came of great activity in Macedonia, — 



The Collapse of the Enemy 455 

activity that was destined to bring about, in dramatic fashion, the 
downfall of the Central Powers, and bring to end for all time their 
great dream of world conquest. 

BULGAEIA^S SURRENDER 

On September 16, 1918, the.alHed armies, under the French 
General d'Esperey, attacked the Balkan army with results that 
were swift, dramatic and vital for the Central Powers. 

Advancing from Saloniki the British and Greek armies drove 
at the enemy^s right in the region of Lake Dorian. At the same 
time French and Serbian troops attacked the Bulgarian centre 
along a twenty-five mile front while an Itahan army struck at 
the enemy's left. As a result of these blows the first and second 
Bulgarian armies were separated and fled, leaving the road open 
to Sofia. The first Bulgarian army was caught between the two 
aUied advances and was threatened with annihilation. Formal 
appeals to Germany and Austria brought nothing but evasive replies; 
pacifist crowds in Sofia demanded peace and the country was 
threatened with anarchy. Consequently King Ferdinand was 
forced to ask for an armistice. On September 26th a Bulgarian 
officer arrived at d'Esperey's headquarters to ask for a suspension of 
hostihties until the accredited representatives, said to be on the 
way, should arrive. This request was naturally refused, but on 
September 28th the official Bulgarian delegates arrived at Saloniki 
and on September 29th an armistice was signed by d'Esperey for 
the Entente AUies and the three Bulgarian representatives. The 
terms were submitted to the AUies, were approved and hostilities 
ceased on September 30th at noon. 

The terms of the armistice were very drastic. Bulgaria agreed 
to evacuate all allied territory, demobilize her army at once, sur- 
render all means of transport to the AUies as weU as control of 
navigation on the Danube, aUow the AUies free passage through 
Bulgaria for military purposes, surrender aU arms and ammunition 
and aUow of the occupation of aU important strategic points in 
Bulgaria. The armistice meant a complete military smrender and 
Bulgaria ceased to be a belhgerent. 

Bulgarian troops began evacuating Serbia on October 1st 
and the advancing Serbs had only Austrian and German forces to 
fight, At the same time large forces of German troops were with- 



456 Canada's Sons in the World War 

drawn from Rumania and rushed to strategic points in Serbia and 
Bulgaria for the purpose of holding territory as long as possible. 

On October 13th the railway between Berlin and Constantinople 
was cut and the road to the east finally broken. Meanwhile, on 
October 4th, King Ferdinand, the Fox, abdicated in favour of his 
son Boris with the complete approval of the party leaders. The 
accession of Boris III, a Bulgarian by birth, was received with 
great enthusiasm by the Bulgarian people. His first decree demobil- 
ized the Bulgarian army and shortly afterwards all Germans, 
Austro-Hungarians and Turks were ordered to leave Bulgaria 
within a month. 

AUSTRIA-HUNGARY COLLAPSES 

A note addressed by Austria-Hungary to all the Allies on 
September 15th, inviting them to a conference on neutral territory, 
showed her anxiety for peace at any price. There was no attempt to 
take the note seriously by the AUies who realized that internal 
affairs in the dual monarchy were desperate. 

At the end of October the final Itafian offensive was made. 
The Tenth Itahan Army including the Britsh forces was imder 
the command of General Lord Cavan. The Eighth and Twelfth 
Itahan armies on the left attacked the Grappe region while Lord 
Cavan's army crossed the Piave River and speedily secured the 
eastern bank. 

Immediate success was attained by the three Italian armies on 
the entire front of thu'ty miles, the enemy breaking before the 
onward sweep of the Alhes. A week after the offensive began 
50,000 prisoners had been taken, the Austrians had been chased 
across the Livenza River toward Taghamento; and all the strong 
positions between the Brenta and the Piave were regained. 

On October 25th the Hungarian seaport of Fiume was seized 
by Croatian rebels. 

On October 28th Austria-Hungary, in a new note to President 
Wilson, declared herself ready "without awaiting the result of the 
other negotiations'' to negotiate peace and an immediate armistice 
on all her fronts. The Emperor issued a manifesto promising a 
federal state for each race under the monarchy. President Wilson 
then oflScially recognized the claims to separate nationafity of the 
Czecho-Slovaks and the Jugo-Slavs, which forthwith formed national 



The Collapse of the Enemy 457 

executives, for the Czechs at Prague and for the Jugo-Slavs at 
Agram. The Austrian fleet was handed to the Jugo-Slavs and the 
Danube fleet to the Czechs. 

The Austrian-Hungarian aggregation immediately began to 
disintegrate. The Austro-German provinces declared themselves 
an autonomous state; the Ruthenians gathered at Lemberg and 
the Poles at Cracow. A new Provisional Cabinet was formed at 
Vienna for the purpose of bringing about a speedy peace, trans- 
ferring affairs from the central government to the national govern- 
ments and safeguarding their common interests. 

The Austrian defeat had become a rout when, on October 30th, 
the railway communication between the plains and the mountains 
was cut. On October 31st General Diaz was appealed to for an 
armistice, and on November 3d, Austria-Hungary surrendered at 
the moment when the Twenty-ninth Itahan army corps entered 
Trent and another Italian force had landed at Trieste. 

Since October 24th the alhed armies in Italy had captured 
about 300,000 prisoners and 5,000 guns; of these prisoners 20,000 
had been taken in two days by Cavan^s army. 

The terms of the armistice provided for the handing over 
of the effective part of the Austrian fleet, the demobihzation of 
the army, the occupation by the AUies of the Istrian peninsula, 
the Trentino and a portion of the Dalmation coast with its hinter- 
land, and the islands. Complete control was also to be yielded 
over the Austro-Hungarian railways and roads, thereby opening up 
a new and rapid approach to the south and eastern German border. 

turkey's failure 

^ The brilliantly successful campaign in Palestine and Syria, 
which converged upon Aleppo, ended by the capture of the entire 
Turkish armies of defence. 

The year had opened auspiciously for Tiu'key. Russia had 
failed and as a result Turkey had been able to recaptiu"e Trebizond, 
Erzerum, Ardaham, Batum and Kars in rapid succession. They 
also took Tabriz and endeavored to secure the necessary area of 
Persia as a base of operations against the British. 

All the ambitions of Tm-key were countered by the successes 
of the British in Palestine and Sjria, together with Bulgaria's 
fall. The young Turks and Enver Pasha had steadily declined in 



458 Canada's Sons in the World War 

power In face of the privations which their policy had brought 
upon the country. 

Towards the end of October General Townshend, who had been 
a prisoner of war since the fall of Kut, was Hberated in order to 
carry the message that Turkey wished to open negotiations for 
peace and on October 30th the Tiurkish plenipotentiaries signed an 
armistice at Mudros. 

By the terms of this armistice the allied fleets secured the 
passage of the Dardanelles and the Bosporus to the Black Sea; 
the occupation of the Dardanelles forts, the withdrawl of the Turkish 
armies within Asia Minor and the immediate repatriation of all 
alhed prisoners of war without reciprocity, were other provisions. 

In accordance with these terms the aUied fleet anchored 
off Constantinople by November 13th and French and EngHsh 
troops landed at the Turkish capital on November 21st. No 
particular animosity or even curiosity seemed to be apparent among 
the Turkish population, but the Germans mixed in the crowds 
were exceedingly interested in every move of the allied troops. 

THE WAE IN MESOPOTAMIA 

At the end of April, 1917, Sir Stanley Maude had driven back 
the two Turkish army corps and had secured Bagdad. The Rus- 
sian defection had affected the situation and it was thought that 
Falkenhayn would endeavor in the autumn to recapture Bagdad. 
During the summer heat Maude's army rested but with the cooler 
weather he began operations and on September 20th, by a fine bit 
of work, surrounded and captured Ramadi, together with 3,454 
Turks and thirteen guns. On October 20th he occupied Kizil 
Robat forcing the Thirteenth Turkish corps to retreat and clearing 
the British flanks for a fresh advance up the Tigris. On November 
5th he routed the Eighteenth Tm^kish corps and next day occupied 
Tekrit. Maude was now only 100 miles from Mosul in a much 
better position to carry on his work. He had taken the army in 
Mesopotamia at a time when it had been ahnost ruined by mis- 
management and failure and had evolved a highly efficient organized 
force out of it. His victories of Kut and Bagdad were briUiant 
achievements seldom equalled in the history of British arms. But 
he was not destined to receive his full reward, for on November 18th 
he died suddenly of cholera. 



The Collapse of the Enemy 459 

He was succeeded by Lieutenant-General Sir W. Marshall. 
During December and January the Turks near Hit, after being 
re-enforced, were attacked and routed with the loss of 5,236 men and 
twelve gims. The magnificent victory of General Allenby in Pales- 
tine now permitted of a plan dear to the heart of many people who 
knew of the wonderful fertihty of that region iu bygone ages. 
Accordingly the Euphrates district was garrisoned iu order to 
encourage the development of agriculture. Hundreds of tons of 
seed graiu were planted and arrangements made to open up a branch 
railroad to briag the harvest iuto Bagdad, while irrigation methods 
were introduced. The lines of communication along the Tigris 
and Euphrates were kept open and traffic encouraged, while the 
port of Basra was unproved, docks built and dredging carried out 
that would enable ocean vessels to dock. 

In the first week of April the British had advanced to withia 
250 miles of Aleppo and at the end of April the advance was resumed 
up the Mosul road, Kifri beiug entered on April 27th. Sitnultane- 
ously the British had progressed along the direct road from Bagdad 
which follows the liue of the Tigris River to Mosul. The next 
advance here was not made until October by which time General 
Marshall had pushed on the construction of the railway line north 
of Tekrit. 

On October 20th British columns operating on both sides 
of the Tigris River drove back Turkish forces upon our own cavalry. 
After a six days^ fight fifty miles south of Mosul, which ended on 
October 30th, General Marshall captured the entire Turkish force 
of 7,000 men. 

CONQUEST OF THE HOLY LAND 

With impressive simplicity, Lieutenant-General Sir Edmimd 
Allenby, on December 11, 1917, entered on foot the sacred city 
of Jerusalem. A proclamation estabUshing martial law in the city 
made it known that every sacred building would be protected and 
maintained. 

Between October 31st and December 9th Allenby had taken 
12,000 prisoners, 100 guns and much material. 

The British General then proceeded to protect the line now 
covering Joppa and Jerusalem and it was gradually pushed forward 
at both ends, The Turks by counter-attacking, tried without 



460 Canada's Sons in the World War 

success to break into the allied positions and the British steadily 
advanced until in early January they were thirteen miles on their 
way to Shechem. 

A big drive eastward on February 19th carried the British 
forward on a fifteen-mile front to the edge of the Jordan Valley, in 
spite of obstinate Turkish resistance. On February 21st AustraHan 
cavalry entered Jericho and patrols pushed down to the shore of 
the Dead Sea and Mandesi ford, ten miles from the mouth of the 
Jordan. 

Again turning his attention to the north General Allenby, 
on March 4th, struck on a front of eighteen miles across the Shechem 
road and made progress along the coast and foothills overlooking 
the plain of Sharon. Towards the end of March an attack was 
made across the Jordan, Es Salt was captured and several miles of 
the Hedjaz railway were destroyed. 

The Turks then assumed the offensive northeast of Joppa 
but were driven back. The Arabs continued to harass the Turks 
along the Hedjaz line. Siuce the declaration of their independence 
the Arabs of the Hedjaz had cleared the Red Sea coast for 800 miles 
of the enemy and accoimted for 40,000 Turkish troops. Es Salt 
was again taken by the British and abandoned for the second time. 

There now came a lull in the fighting in Palestine. Direct 
railway connection was made between Cairo and PalestiQe upon 
the completion of the swing bridge over the Suez Canal and prepara- 
tions were made to set up a civil administration iu the occupied 
territory. Some attempts were made by the enemy to regain the 
crossings of the Jordan and Jericho but failed and the fighting line 
became stabilized from Arsuf on the coast ten miles north of Joppa, 
through Mt. Ephraim, across the trunk road between Shechem 
and Jerusalem, along the Wadi di Auja to the Jordan crossing and 
then along its banks to the Dead Sea. 

On September 18th British troops in Palestine under General 
Allenby attacked the Tm-kish position on a front of ten miles, from 
Rafat to the sea. Since the month of April Allenby had been held 
up on a sixty-mile front from the edge of the Plain of Sharon on the 
sea, southwest to the River Jordan. On his front were the seventh 
and eighth, and on his right the fourth, Turkish armies. The total 
strength of the Turks was estimated to be between 100,000 and 
150,000 bayonets. 



The Collapse of the Enemy 461 

General AUenby scored a brilliant series of successes. Breaking 
through the Turkish lines near the sea he poured his cavalry and 
camel corps through the breach and began an encirclement of the 
seventh and eighth Turkish armies. The initial successes were 
obtained on the historic field of Esdraelon or Jezreel where the 
Israelites fought battles as recounted in the Bible. The region is 
famous as the battlefield of Armageddon, and, according to Revela- 
tion, is to be the scene of the decisive battle at the end of the world. 

The cavalry, consisting of British yeomanry, Austrahan light 
horse and Indian cavalry, proceeded north along the western 
edge of the Mount Ephraim range, turned east toward the Jordan 
and thus placed itself in the rear of the two Turkish armies by 
occupying the valley between El Afule and Nazareth. The circle 
was completed on October 22d and King Hussein had also 
destroyed the railway communications of the fom-th army, thereby 
preventing its retreat. 

Damascus, the capital of Syria and the most beautiful city 
in Asia Minor, was taken October 1st by the British and Arabs; a 
week later they had occupied towns thirty miles northwest of 
Damascus and on the same day a French naval division entered 
Beirut port, 160 miles northwest of Damascus. This gave the AUies 
an imbroken front from Beirut to the desert and they pushed on 
rapidly towards Aleppo, the main base of the Turkish armies in 
Asia Minor. 

British forces along the Tigris and Euphrates also began 
a forward movement towards Mosul to connect up with Allenby 
and thus form an unbroken front from the Mediterranean across 
Mesopotamia into Persia. Between September 18th and October 
5th Allenby had captured 71,000 prisoners and 350 guns while the 
Arabs had taken 8,000 prisoners in addition. The three Turkish 
armies had practically been destroyed. 

Mr. W. T. Massey, official correspondent with the British 
troops, in a despatch dated September 23d, describes the havoc 
wrought upon one enemy column: 

*' Today saw one of the most remarkable sights which a soldier 
ever gazed upon. From Balata, where the road from Nabulus 
falls through craggy hills and narrow passes to Wadi Farah, there is 
a stretch more than six miles long covered with debris of the retreat- 
ing army. In no section of Napoleon's retreat from Moscow could 



462 Canada^s Sons in the World War 

there have been a more terrible picture of hopeless, irretrievable 
defeat. 

^'In this area alone were eighty-seven guns of various calibres, 
fully 1,000 horse and oxen drawn vehicles, nearly 100 motor lorries, 
cars, field kitchens, watercarts, and a mass of other impedimenta. 
The road was black with the carcasses of thousands of animals and 
bodies of dead Turks and Germans. 

'^This was the work of the Irish, Welsh and Indian infantry. 
The artillery pressure behind the indomitable British and Australian 
airmen in front of the infantry had forced the enemy over the hills 
into the road, and just as the guns began to shell the retiring trans- 
port airmen swooped down to 200 feet and bombed the head of the 
column. Once that was accomplished, time only was required to 
finish the job, and this was done with surprising thoroughness. 

'^ The enemy troops, seeing escape with the vehicles was 
impossible, fled to the hills. Some who had endeavored to find an 
outlet up the Beisan road fell into the hands of cavalry waiting 
for them. Others, accepting the inevitable, sought refuge in our 
lines. 

'^For effectiveness of systematic bombing it is diflScult to find 
a parallel to this destroyed column. The operations working up 
to this debacle were magnificently conducted. '^ 

It has been said that the operation as carried out by Allenby, 
originally in charge of the cavalry corps in French's contemptibles, 
and with great infantry experience on the western front, was as 
perfect an example of the cooperation of infantry and cavalry as 
can be found in history. 

Since the Dardanelles campaign the British army, with its 
Arab alHes, had encountered thirty-four Turkish divisions in 
Palestine of which, by October, twenty-six had ceased to exist. 
Seventy-five thousand prisoners had been taken by Allenby and the 
Tiu-ks had been driven from half of Syria and were threatened with 
the loss of Aleppo. Their broken army was estimated to number 
only 12,000 and it never offered to fight again. 

On the advance of the aUied force this renmant of the Turkish 
army withdrew behind Aleppo which was entered by the British 
on October 26th. Five days later Tm-key had capitulated and 
Alexandretta, the last port of Syria, was occupied on November 10th 
by the Allies, 



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Photo frorn Press Illustrating Service. 

GIANT HANDLEY-PAGE BOMBING PLANE 

This huge air dreadnought is capable of carrying fortj' passengers. This type 
of plane was designed to attack Berlin and carries a huge load of bombs and is 
heavily armed. Quantity production had just beg^an when the war ended. 




British Official Photograph. From Underwood and Underwood. 

ONE NIGHT'S FOOD FOR A BOMBING SQUADRON 

This great mass of high explosives is a typical load of one of many Allied 
squadrons of planes which made nightly raids on German ammunition dumps, 
railways and concentration points. 



CHAPTER XXXI 
With the Canadian Airmen 

The year 1918 was memorable as the first year in which air- 
craft were used as a separate arm of the service. By the fusion of 
the Royal Naval Air Service and the Royal Flying Corps the 
Royal Air Force was established. When the Germans were re-en- 
forced in 1918 by troops from the eastern theatre and pressed 
back the allied lines, the part played by aircraft was remarkable. 
The preparations for any offensive are most intricate and when 
time is a vital factor in obtaining a decision any action which 
hampers or postpones that offensive is of extreme importance. 

By persistent offensive tactics against lines of communication, 
depots, troops and railways, with bombs and machine guns, and 
by incessant vigilance in aerial reconnaissance the enemy was 
forced to confine all his important movements of troops to night 
and much time was thereby gained for us. 

Through aircraft observation, ^'in one day 127 hostile bat- 
teries were successfully engaged to destruction; and on the same 
day twenty-eight gun pits were destroyed, eighty damaged and 
sixty explosions of ammunition caused.^' During the autiunn 
victories of the AlUes the value of aircraft became even more 
marked and all previous doings were surpassed. In one day sixty- 
four enemy machines were destroyed and others driven down. 

FUNCTION OF AIRCEAFT 

Besides the regular operations of aircraft such as artillery 
observation, reconnaissance, co-operation with infantry in attack, 
bombing, submarine hunting and observation for the navy new 
functions were continually being found for this newly developed 
branch of the service. In particular there was a far greater co- 
operation between infantry and aircraft. The first mention made 
of attempts to relieve a beleaguered garrison from the air was in 
the case of General Townshend's army when aircraft dropped 
tobacco and small quantities of other material into the British 

(465) 



466 Canada's Sons in the World War 

camp. During the German rush which cut off French troops 
fighting on Kemmel Hill, airplanes dropped packages of small 
arm ammunition on the isolated area, thereby enabling the garrison 
to continue its good work. 

German airplanes also carried food and aromunition to isolated 
units in the Marne and Aisne areas and this became the regular 
practice with all belUgerents during big movements. 

Airplanes almost from the beginning of the war were used 
for carrying spies to and from enemy territory. On October 3d 
airplanes dropped smoke bombs which made a smoke screen for 
our advancing troops. For the rapid transportation of officials 
airplanes were greatly used in the war. 

Airmen soon after their instruction began were classified 
according to their capabihties, for it was quickly recognized that 
fighting, long-distance bombing, raids, artillery observation, 
infantry co-operation and reconnaissance required special qualifica- 
tions. The quickness of eye and instinct, so essential to the first- 
class ak fighter, are not those which are necessary for the good 
long-distance bomber, 

AIRCRAFT AND INFANTRY 

Aircraft, co-operating with infantry, tanks and cavalry dur- 
ing advance and retirement, became an estabHshed phase of army 
tactics for which special training was necessary and specially 
designed machines usually employed. Under such conditions vast 
numbers of low-flying machines harassed the enemy with bombs and 
machine-gun fire, while other types of machine, by aerial observa- 
tion and ^'contact'' work, kept up connection between units and 
prevented confusion. In the Cambrai fighting of November, 1917, 
for example, our machines flew as low as fifty feet and swept the 
streets with machine-gun fire. In that battle the German infantry 
was helped by ^^ hordes of their airplanes." 

In another case, in March, 1918, two German divisions were 
completely broken up by one hundred French airplanes. In June, 
1918, the enemy employed this method with great boldness and 
in the later fighting of the year there was unprecedented activity 
in this kind of airplane work. 

In the Turkish retreat the Mesopotamia airplanes co-operated 
effectively with our infantry and inflicted heavy losses, and on 



With the Canadian Airmen 467 

March 9th to 10th the participation of aircraft was a feature of 
the advance in Palestine. In the autumn victories in Palestine 
and Serbia aircraft co-operated with tanks and infantry with great 
effect. 

AIR FIGHTING 

This phase of work speedily became a special branch, for which 
obviously suitable pupils were trained. The type of machine used 
for the purpose rapidly improved and became speciahzed. Single- 
seater scouts carried two and often four machine guns. There 
was also a two-seater fighting machine which acted as escort for 
this craft. 

Durmg the year July 1, 1917, to June 30, 1918, 2,150 enemy 
planes were destroyed by the British on the western front and 
another 1,083 were driven down out of control. During the same 
period R. A. F. units working with the navy accounted for 628 
enemy planes. British machines missing amounted to 1,186. 

From March 21 to August 15, 1918, the French lost 348 planes 
and destroyed or drove down out of control 1,325 enemy machines 
and 147 enemy balloons. In August and September 1,962 enemy 
planes and 489 alHed planes were brought dowTi in all the theatres 
of war. From June 1st to November 8th on the western front alone 
1,837 enemy machines were destroyed by British airmen. 

RAIDS BY THE ALLIES 

The most striking development occurred in airplane offensive 
work. The bombing of areas behind the battle line steadily in- 
creased in intensity and it was commonly said that except during 
infantry attacks the safest part of the front was the front hne trench. 

In 1918 the Allies achieved a definite preponderance in air- 
craft so that machines could be spared for long-distance work. 
For the purpose of carrying out the idea of air work as a thing 
apart, a division of the Royal Air Force called the Independent 
Air Force was formed and this force occupied itself with long-dis- 
tance operations against numerous manufacturing centres on the 
Rhine. By such means a district of the Rhine Valley some 250 
miles long, crowded with war industries and intersected by a rail- 
way system of vital strategic importance to the German army, 
was brought into the war zone. 



468 



Canada's Sons in the World War 



It is interesting to note that up to July, 1918, the enemy had 
been able to make only 114 raids on England, whereas in the month 
of July alone the British made 96 raids on Germany. Our raids 
into Germany all had mihtary objectives and were not of the 
nature of reprisals. From June 1st to November 8th the British 
made 287 raids on German towns dropping 536 tons of bombs. 

The bombing of aerodromes, enemy communications and 
troops on the western front was on a gigantic scale. In the week 




How Britons Answered the German Air Raids 
This map shows the towns bombed from the air by British 
aviators in reprisal for German air raids on open towns. 

June 27th to July 3d the British dropped 219 tons of bombs 
exclusive of raids and naval operations. Diu-ing the two weeks 
ending August 23d the British alone dropped 594 tons of bombs 
in the battle area. From March 21st to May 21st the British 
dropped 2,000 tons of bombs. In April the enemy dropped 2,033 
bombs in France; the British dropped 23,900. Vigorous offensives 
from the air were carried on against Zeebrugge, Ostend, Bruges 
and aerodromes and works in Belgium, as many as one hundred 
airplanes participating in a single bombing raid. 



With the Canadian Airmen 469 

GERMAN RAIDS 

In addition to the German raids referred to in Chapter XIX 
on England the Germans maintained a steady airplane offensive 
against our depots, communications and aerodromes on the western 
front. From May 15th to June 1st our hospitals also on the northern 
coast of France were bombed under circumstances that left no 
doubt that the attacks were dehberate. In these hospital raids 
248 were killed and 593 wounded. 

AIRPLANE DEVELOPMENT 

Four years of war probably developed the airplane more than 
twenty-five or thirty years of peace would have done. The tre- 
mendous competition to beat each other resulted in the concentra- 
tion of much of the best brains and the finest engineering skill of 
both belhgerents in developing better engines, models, stabiHty 
and control. It was quickly discovered that a general purpose 
machine was of little use because it was an easy prey to the faster 
fighting machine. Definite types for special kind of work were 
therefore evolved and elaborated along their own special lines. 
When the armistice was signed the latest development in the 
bombing plane, a Handley-Page British machine, was almost 
ready to bomb Berhn. This huge biplane, eighty feet in width 
and equipped with several engines, would have been ready in an- 
other two days to fly over the German capital. It was capable 
of carrying three tons of bombs and actually carried forty passen- 
gers in its trial flight on November 15th. That was an experience 
that Berhn probably had few regrets about missing. 

There seems to be no limit either to the carrying capacity, 
range of ffight, altitude or speed of the airplane. Single-seater 
scouts have exceeded a speed of 150 miles an hour. 

It is less dangerous to fly machines today than it was in the 
beginning because all modern airplanes are far more stable than 
the original machines were. The airman of the latter days of the 
war required to be far better quafified than his early predecessor. 
He had to understand wireless telegraphy, gunnery and bomb 
dropping, to operate two or more engines, and learn the difficult 
art of formation flying. He had to thoroughly understand the 
numerous instruments on his machine in order to navigate during 
all weathers, at great heights and over long distances. 



470 Canada's Sons in the World War 

AIRCRAFT AT SEA 

At the end of the war au*craft were taking ahnost as great a 
part in sea warfare as they were in land warfare and very httle 
was done at sea without effective aerial observation. When it is 
realized that the first use of seaplanes for observation work among 
the British occuiTed during the battle of Jutland, one can see what 
rapid progress had been made. 

A considerable amount of fighting between aircraft and marine 
craft occurred, while freedom for aerial reconnaissance over the 
seas was keenly contested by the rival air forces. 

In controlling the enemy^s submarine activities aircraft proved 
to be most valuable. Airships, airplanes, sea planes and observa- 
tion balloons working from the decks of warships were employed 
in large numbers. The actual destruction of enemy submarines 
has been brought about many times through bombs dropped from 
aircraft. 

THE COMPOSITION AND CONTROL OF THE AIR SERVICE 

In early 1918 the Air Council in England was appointed to 
supersede the Air Board. The Air Ministry supphed to the Ad- 
miralty and to the War Office contingents of the Royal Air Force 
which came into existence on April 1, 1918, under Lord Rother- 
mere. These contingents were then under the supreme mihtary 
or naval command. The Independent Air Force operated directly 
under the Air Ministry. 

The production of airplanes was under the Minister of Muni- 
tions. Lighter-than-air craft remained under the Admiralty, the 
Air Ministry supplying the necessary personnel for the Royal Air 
Force. 

When the armistice was signed on November 11th King 
George sent the following message to Lord Weir, Secretary of 
State and President of the Air Council: 

To the Right Hon. Lord Weir, Secretary of State and President of 
the Air Council. 

In this supreme hour of victory I send greetings and heartfelt con- 
gratulations to all ranks of the Royal Air Force. Our aircraft have been 
ever in the forefront of the battle; pilots and observers have consistently 
maintained the offensive throughout the ever-changing fortunes of the 
day; and in the war zones our gallant dead have lain always beyond the 
enemies' lines or far out to sea. 



With the Canadian Airmen 471 

Our far-flung squadrons have flown over home waters and foreign 
seas, the western and Italian battle hnes, Rhineland, the mountains of 
Macedonia, Gallipoli, Palestine, the plains of Mesopotamia, the forests 
and swamps of East Africa, the northwest frontier of India, and the deserts 
of Arabia, Sinai and Darfiu'. 

The birth of the Royal Air Force, with its wonderful expansion and 
development, will ever remain one of the most remarkable achievements 
of the great war. 

Everywhere, by God's help, ofiicers, men and women of the Royal 
Air Force have splendidly maintained our just cause, and the value of 
their assistance to the navy, the army, and to home defence has been 
incalculable. For all their magnificent work, self-sacrifice, and devotion 
to duty, I ask you on behalf of the empire to thank them. 

George R. L 

canadians and the royal air force 

Canadians took to flying with great enthusiasm and large 
numbers joined the Royal Flying Corps and Royal Naval Flying 
Corps. In August, 1918, after much discussion, the Royal Cana- 
dian Air Service came into being under the Director of the Naval 
Department. Provision for training had already been made on a 
very large scale in Canada and when America came into the war 
our aerodromes and training facilities were placed at her disposal. 
Practically all of the instruction given American fliers, during the 
first year of the war particularly, was by Canadian fliers who had 
returned from overseas. 

Canadians made wonderful fighters, and the majority of the 
greatest fighters in the R. A. F. were Canadians. The premier 
British ace has finally been decided to be Major Mannock of India, 
with a record of seventy-four planes to his credit, a record that was 
only one better than Lieutenant-Colonel Bishop, V.C., the Cana- 
dian, who brought down seventy-three planes. 

The R. F. C. and later the R. A. F. in Canada was under the 
command of Brigadier-General Hoare, C.M.G., who had before 
the war been a cavalry oflScer in India. Since the appearance of 
the force 6,000 air mechanics, 5,000 cadets and 800 officers were 
trained under his command and 4,300 trained pilots were sent over- 
seas for service. Approximately 13,000 Canadians joined the 
R. A. F. and its predecessor the R. F. C. 

In 1919 General Seely, the British Air Minister, asked for 
$325,000,000 for the Air Ministry and a vote for 150,000 airmen. 



472 Canada's Sons in the World War 

The House of Commons gave it to him without question. In his 
speech in connection with this vote General Seely said: ''It is in 
a large measure due to the splendid quahty of the man-power of 
the empire, of which Canada supphed so large a proportion, that 
Britain became master of the air, and has raised her air-power to 
a higher pitch than any of our AlUes.'' General Seely added: 
''Our record is 50,000 air battles during the war." The general 
added some interesting facts hitherto unknown to the general 
pubhc. Among others was the fact that the wireless telephone 
had been invented and installed on airplanes; that a new seaplane 
capable of carrying 14,000 pounds and flying one hundred miles 
an hour had been perfected; that an airplane capable of Hfting 
20,000 pounds was under course of construction; that a new plane 
with a speed undreamed of was being built, and that a new air 
camera had been invented. 

General Seely laid great stress on the future use of seaplanes 
for use along great river stretches such as the Nile, the St. Law- 
rence and other great water routes over which ordinary ships can 
travel at a very few miles an hour. 

AIR SHIPS 

During the war Uttle was heard about British airships. When 
war broke out Great Britain had exactly two airships ready for 
service, and these began at once to patrol the channel, looking 
for hostile warships, blockade runners, mines and other nuisances. 
When the war ended there were 103 British airships in commission. 

The total fljdng hours made by British airships during the 
war are of interest: 

1915 339 hours 

1916 7,678 " 

1917. 22,389 " 

1918 (to October) 53,534 " 

The British airships ranged from the submarine scout, or 
S. S., a small, one-engined, non-rigid type, up to the huge rigid 
type nearly 600 feet long. Between these two extremes were 
S. S. twins. Coastals, Coastal Stars, Parsevals and North Seas. 
The last called the N. S. was a particularly strong, weather-worthy 
type designed to scout for the fleet and to carry a crew of ten 
for a twenty-four-hour trip. An N. S. holds the record for the 



With the Canadian Airmen 473 

longest flight, having remained in the air sixty-one hours. All of 
these types helped to guard convoys, looked for U-boats, kept the 
enemy from seeing what our ships were doing and patrolled the 
British coast lines. 

At the time of writing, the British dirigible, R-34, has made 
the pioneer balloon voyage across the Atlantic, covering 3,200 miles 
from East Fortune, Scotland, to Mineola, New York, in 108 hours. 
The R-34 is 670 feet long; capacity of gas bag, 2,200,000 cubic 
feet. She carries a crew of thirty. The 11-34 and a sister ship 
were built originally to bomb Berlin. Other British au-ships twice 
as long, with a range of 20,000 miles, capable of travelling at a 
speed of fifty-one miles an hour, are said to be on the way. 



» 



CHAPTER XXXII 
Britain's Effort History's Marvel 

When Prussia — and her dupes — went to war it was in the 
same spirit of ruthless conquest that has characterized her since 
the days of Attila. As then the Huns swept aside everything that 
lay in their path; neutrals were invaded, innocent men, women 
and children butchered, cities laid in ashes, sacred agreements torn 
to pieces. It is true that the German nation had become efficient 
in material things; the soul of Prussia had changed httle in a 
thousand years. A veneer of mental culture had overlaid and 
deceived the world as to the heart of the Prussian people, which, 
as events have shown, is just as savage as it ever was. 

The Prussian is a reaUst; Uttle of great worth springing in 
the realm of the imagination either in music, art or hterature has 
come from the Prussian people. The Prussian calls pork pig flesh, 
a term that is repulsive to the Anglo-Saxon, but the Prussian 
believes in calHng things what they are. A bully by instinct and 
nature he elbows women off the sidewalk and precedes them in 
getting on a street car. He is the superior being; then why not 
show it? 

Not seeing below the surface or believing in such things as 
sentiment, he eliminated this from his mind as something which 
did not exist. The British Lion he regarded as a mere moneybag 
and a whelp of the seas. The Prussian could calculate the wealth 
of Britain in gold; he could estimate the number of her men and 
guns. But outside of her wealth and her navy he held Great 
Britain to be of no account. There was no way of calculating the 
soul of a nation and the Prussian could not know that the greatest 
wealth of Great Britain was after all in her national spirit. 

When Germany went to war she could not and did not beUeve 
that Britain would enter the arena, for the sake of a mere signature. 
When she learned that the British people believed in keeping their 
pledges given to Belgium her rage knew no bounds. The hate and 
jealousy of the British Empire vented itself in an outburst of 

(474) 



Britain's Effort History's Marvel 475 

national rage such as the world had never seen. The whole nation 
and the army worked themselves into a frenzy in and out of season 
by singing Lissauer's ^'Hymn of Hate/' whose refrain is ^'Gott 
strafe England/' 

This hatred of England turned to an equally virulent hatred 
of the United States when, after bearing for two and a half years 
the insults and threats of the Prussian autocracy, that nation also 
took up arms to defend her honour. 

It was therefore an astounding thing for Germany to witness 
the rallying of the British Colonies to the side of 'Hhe ice-cold 
haberdashers of the Thames." Instead of falling away and declaring 
their individual freedom the extraordinary sight was witnessed of 
these same colonies pouring out their treasures and offering their 
sons by the tens of thousands for the sake of sentiment, — because 
of an idea. India, Canada, Australia, New Zealand hastened to 
support the mother country and during more than four long years 
continued with unswerving fidelity to tax themselves more bilUons 
and sacrifice further tens of thousands of sons in order that all 
which Germany stood for should be driven from the earth. It was 
the unconquerable spirit of men with British ideals and French 
ideals that made conquest by such a nation as Germany impossible. 
If might was right the Allies were prepared to go down forever in 
opposing such a hateful behef. 

One of the most eloquent tributes to the part Great Britain 
was playing in the war appeared two and a half years after the 
beginning of hostihties in the Boston News Bureau and Wall Street 
Journal, It said: 

''All the wonders of the world, ancient or modern, fade when 
compared with what Britain is doing to-day. A commercial nation 
of not 50,000,000 people suddenly summoned to arms where no 
arms existed has produced a bigger army than history ever before 
recorded, and a war machine in Europe that for wealth of shell, 
explosive and war power is the amazement of the Germans. Britain 
has done in thirty months what Germany took thirty years to do, 
and she has done it more thoroughly and on a vaster scale. With- 
out an English aeroplane engine capable of circling her own islands 
she has vanquished the boasted ZeppeUn and is the mistress of 
her own skies. With submarines by the hundred threatening her 
coast defences and her food supply she has swept all oceans, bottling 



476 Canada's Sons in the World War 

the German fleet, with the exception of an odd raider like the 
Moeive and the vessel that is now preying upon merchantmen in 
the South Atlantic. She has made the Enghsh Channel her 
multiple-track ocean railway to France, with no loss by Zeppelin 
or submarine; fought in Africa, at the Canal, the Dardanelles; 
grappled with the Turk and the Bulgar; changed generals and 
admirals in command; changed cabinets; fed the armies of France; 
maintained the armies and the governments of Belgiiun and 
Serbia, and altogether advanced three thousand millions of dollars, 
or three times the national debt of the United States, to her war 
allies. 

''This is admittedly some considerable achievement. While 
the United States has been trying to find out how to make military 
rifles in quantities and has unfilled orders for them amounting to 
hundreds of millions of dollars, England has been making rifles 
by the miUion for herseK and her allies, cannon by the thousand, 
boots and coats by the miUion for herself and her allies, and most 
wonderful of all, she has done all this, is doing it and is prepared 
to go on doing it while her manufacturing, her trade relations and 
her overseas commerce remain unimpaired. She has grabbed the 
trade of the world, so that her enemies are struggling on half 
rations with food, rubber and metal suppUes cut off from the out- 
side world except as new territory is taken. This combination of 
war and trade achievement by Great Britain was never before 
dreamed of. Two years ago nobody imagined that the war cost 
to Great Britain would be more than five or six billions; to-day it 
is twice that amount and Great Britain is preparing to double it 
again. 

*^Each achievement seems to be the supreme marvel imtil the 
next one is considered, but the greatest wealth of Britain after 
all was in her national spirit." 

Speaking of that soul which has been waked by the war: '^It 
is fighting mad to-day and getting madder every minute. The 
stigma and insults to credit and honour from Washington only 
increase the resolve of her people and their faith in the invincibility 
of the righteous cause. For this they are willing to pledge every- 
thing in sacrifice for justice upon the altar of their battle fires. 
To what martyred souls runs back this heritage of noble spirit only 
the historians of the future may attempt to answer. It is this 



Britain's Effort History's Marvel 477 

spirit which is. the deadUest enemy that Germany has to reckon 
with today. 

'*But with the spirit and with the wealth that has staggered 
the world something yet remains, if an explanation of Britain's 
tremendous output of war mimitions is to be given. Twenty-five 
years ago the machinery of England stamped the coinage of many 
nations and made the cannons for many others. She was the 
ordnance maker of the world. Then Germany loomed as her rival, 
and by means of Government boimties, cheaper labor and EngUsh 
free trade she finally put many an EngHsh firm out of business, 
and only in the manufacture of her great naval guns did England 
retain her old supremacy. But the foundations of the trade and 
the old factories in this business had not wholly disappeared when 
the war storm burst, and it was upon these almost forgotten founda- 
tions that British spirit and British wealth reared anew her old 
metal industries and transformed them into munition plants. This 
is not,'' as the writer says, "a fight between armies; it is a struggle 
between nations, and in England every man, woman and child is 
devoted to only one object, the winning of the war." 

The writer calls attention to the fact that ^Hhis is not merely 
a struggle between the finance, the metal and the soldiers of two 
rival groups. It is also a struggle for economic existence in order 
that the fighting forces may be increased. Germany was the first 
of the belligerents to realize that war power might be increased by 
cutting out luxuries; but England has grasped the fact and she is 
prepared to go as far as Germany or even farther in denying herself 
anything whose consumption might delay the end of the war. 
The British people are organizing in clothing, food, drink, the dis- 
carding of unnecessary comforts, increase in the hours of labor 
and the mutual burdens of all forms of taxation. And the nation 
will be better for it after the war. As Lloyd George said, the nation 
has been in training. Whatever the war debt of the Empire is 
when the fight is over, it will be easily dealt with by people who 
have learned the lessons that the English people are learning and 
who will not forget the lessons;'' yet the writer quoted says that 
"while the world is coming into a new civilization, the people in the 
United States appear to have Httle comprehension of the issues 
and the economic results that must inevitably flow therefrom." 

The part that Canada played in the support of the Mother 



478 Canada's Sons in the World War 

Country during the war has been given elsewhere at length. 
India's share has also been given in some detail. The great self- 
governing Commonwealths of Australia, New Zealand and South 
Africa have played an equally fine part. The universal colonial 
participation in the war is evidence that the colonies believed in 
the justice of the British cause. 

AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND 

The Australians and New Zealanders would not have travelled 
fourteen thousand miles, or the men from Southwest Africa crossed 
ten thousand miles over the sea to fight in Europe if they had not, 
like the men from Canada, been convinced that Britain was right. 
The colonials rushed to arms because the complete independence 
which they enjoyed within the British Empire was just as much 
threatened by Germany as the Hberties of England, Ireland, 
Scotland or Wales. 

AustraHa's population is less than that of New York City, yet 
426,000 Australian soldiers enHsted, every one of them volunteers. 

About 54,000 Australians were killed in action and 140,000 
wounded. 

The total war bill of Australia was one billion one hundred 
milHon dollars. 

The five miUion inhabitants of Austraha paid for and main- 
tained five divisions in France during the last two years of the war, 
as well as one cavalry division in Egypt and Palestine. The per- 
sonnel of the Australian navy exceeds nine thousand officers and 
men — the navy that early in the war hunted down and destroyed 
the famous German raider Emden. 

The Australians have their own independent army organiza- 
tion — hospitals, medical service, aviation branch and training 
camps. Their corps in France commanded by a Melbourne busi- 
ness man. General Sir John Monash, greatly distinguished itself 
in various battles in France, particularly in the great drive of 
1918. They Hved up to the brilliant record made by their earliest 
comrades, the heroes of the Allies' ill-starred venture at GallipoU 
in 1915. The bravery of the Australian soldier became proverbial. 
The German hated to go up against the Australian, the Highlander 
and the Canadian perhaps more than any other troops. 

Australia intends seeing that her soldiers are well cared for 



Britain's Effort History's Marvel 479 

on their return and intends repatriating and re-establishing them 
in civil life at a cost of one hundred and fifty million dollars. 

New Zealand, with a population of over a million, sent about 
one hundred thousand troops to battle. Together with the Aus- 
tralians the New Zealanders formed the famous '^Anzac'^ corps 
at Gallipoli. The New Zealanders were fine fighters and as such 
greatly respected by the Germans. 

THE BRITISH NAVY 

Much has been said in this book on the work of the British 
navy because it was such a vital factor in the war. Yet new facts 
are continually coming to Ught which increase the admiration and 
wonder of everybody for the stupendous work achieved by the 
British Admiralty. 

In August, 1914, the British navy had a tonnage of 2,500,000. 
and a personnel of 145,000 officers and men. When war ceased 
the navy, including the auxiliary fleet, had a tonnage of 8,000,000. 
The personnel of the navy, exclusive of that employed on mercantile 
service, patrol vessels and mine sweepers amounted to 500,000. 
In the auxiliary naval service which employed 50,000 men about 
10,000 gave up their lives in the cause. In addition to all these 
1,000,000 men were engaged exclusively in work for the navy. 

From 1910 to 1914 Germany imported the following materials 
annually: Raw cotton, 405,000 tons; copper, 181,000 tons; sugar, 
4,771,000 tons; wool, 190,000 tons; hides, 239,000 tons; meat, 
1,919,000 tons; and coffee, 180,000 tons. When war started these 
imports, except for small driblets through neutral countries, prac- 
tically ceased because of the British blockade. Never for a moment 
did the British strangle-hold on Germany relax and when the end 
came Germany was woefully short of raw materials for ordnance 
manufacturing. 

Great Britain supplied fifty per cent of the coal for the rail- 
ways and munition factories of France. She also loaned France 
1,000,000 tons of shipping and Italy 500,000 tons. Sixty per cent 
of the American soldiers sent to Europe were carried in British 
vessels. 

The British navy kept the highways of the seas open for British 
ships which carried 130,000,000 tons of food and other suppHes 
for use of the Entente Allies and the United States. 



480 Canada's Sons in the World War 

It patrolled incessantly 140,000 square miles of the North Sea. 

Steamed in one month (June, 1918), 8,000,000 miles; sunk, 
destroyed or captured 150 German submarines, about half the total 
strength of the under-sea force. 

Raised its personnel from 145,000 to 500,000. 

Armed and maintained 3,500 auxihary patrol boats as against 
less than 20 when the war began. 

Enabled food for 46,000,000 inhabitants of Great Britian 
and Ireland to be brought from overseas despite the furious U-boat 
campaign whose principal object was to starve them into sub- 
mission. 

Kept Britain's 8,000,000 soldiers and sailors well fed and in 
every field of action. 

Made possible the uninterrupted supply of munitions, coal 
and food needed by the armies, navies and 75,000,000 inhabitants 
of France and Italy. 

During the war the British navy transported by military 
sea transport the following: 

Personnel ejffectives 23,388,000 

Non effectives 8,336,000 

Animals 2,264,000 

British military stores 47,993,000 tons 

During the war it lost 230 warships, big and httle, and in 
addition 450 auxiliary ships such as mine sweepers, yet at the 
end the fleet was bigger and stronger than ever. 

Of the allied forces fighting submarines in the Atlantic towards 
the end of the struggle eighty per cent were British, fourteen per 
cent were American and six per cent were French. 

Of allied submarines hunting enemy submarines in the Atlantic, 
seventy-eight per cent were British, seventeen per cent French, 
and five per cent American. 

Between the signing of the armistice and April 1st, 1919, 
British mine sweepers had destroyed no fewer than five thousand, 
five hundred moored mines, and no merchantmen saihng by the 
prescribed routes had been damaged by a moored mine. It is a 
splendid tribute to the British mercantile marine that no merchant- 
man had ever failed to sail owing to lack of men, although there 
were men who had been torpedoed and mined as many as five 
times. 




FAMOUS BRITISH STATESMEN 



H. H, ASQUITH 

Former Primo Minister 



Earl Grey 
Former Foreign Secretary 



Sir Eric Geddep 
Fix^t Lor^ ()( ;^'he Admiralty 



Earl of Derby 
Ambassador to France 



Arthur J. Balfour 
Foreign Secretary 




International Film Service. 



SURRENDER OF THE GERMAN HIGH SEAS FLEET 
Actual photograph showing the greatest naval surrender in history — the German 
fleet arriving to surrender. Below, The commanders of the British and American fleets, 
Admirals Beatty and Rodman, the King of England and the Prince of Wales viewing 
the surrender. 



Britain's Effort History's Marvel 483 

BRITISH SUBMARINE OPERATIONS 

The British Admiralty have not yet pubUshed all their sub- 
marine secrets nor are they likely to. During the war practically 
nothing was heard of British submarine operations, yet Britain 
began with 80 submarines, built 130 more and lost 50. Germany 
had no monopoly of the submarine. The 160 submersibles which 
Germany surrendered contained no secrets to the British. In 
fact, the plans of German submarines had sometimes been obtained 
and examined before one of the same type had been captured; 
indicating that Germany had no monopoly of secret service 
efficiency either. 

It is not generally known that the submarine played a con- 
siderable part in British convoy work in the German submarine 
zone and exerted quite a moral effect. The iromunity of 
convoys of ships coming from America may be accounted for by 
a combination of destroyer protection, smoke screens, aircraft 
observation, zig-zagging, careful planning, and other things — 
including submarines. 

British submarines were largely used in patrol work in the 
North Sea and probably made mine-lajdng by German submarines 
more difficult. 

Over twelve thousand British mines were laid from March 
to November, 1918, by one flotilla in the Helgoland Bight area. 
Night after night and day after day our mine-laying submarines 
entered the huge German mine fields off Helgoland and blocked 
the channels through which some German boats left and returned. 
These trap mines led to over one hundred German craft being 
caught the first six months of 1918. 

Out of two hundred and three German U-boats lost during 
the war, one hundred and twenty were sunk with all on board, 
and fully half of the crews of the rest perished. Of fifty-nine 
British submarines lost, thirty-nine were destroyed by Germans, 
four were interned, seven blown up in the Baltic and nine sunk by 
accident or wrecked. 

On September 6, 1918, the Admiralty made pubHc the fact 
that one hundred and fifty German submarines had been disposed 
of and pubhshed the names and fate of their commanders. The 
list pubhshed did not contain the names of Austrian submarines, 
of which a number had also been destroyed. 



484 Canada's Sons in the World War 

Of the officers commanding the U-boats, one hundred and six- 
teen were dead, twenty-seven were prisoners of war, six were in- 
terned in neutral countries, and one escaped to Germany. 

Altogether the allied and neutral countries lost 21,404,913 
tons of shipping during the war, of which all but 7,157,088 tons were 
replaced. As 3,795,000 tons of enemy shipping was seized, the 
allied and neutral nations had only 3,362,088 less tons in operation 
at the end of the war than in August, 1914. 

THE PARAVANE 

This invention of Lieutenant Burney, son of Admiral Sir 
Cecil Burney, Commander-in-Chief at Rosyth, is supposed to 
have saved Great Britain $40,000,000 worth of ships. The Para- 
vane is a sort of kite on the end of a hawser, suspended from each 
side of a ship. As the ship moves the pull on the kite tightens, 
the hawsers stand out straight on either side and sweep up any 
mines that may be met with. 

New mine fields were often discovered by means of this 
device, and cruisers caught in such mine fields have successfully 
cut their way through them. Different types were developed, 
one of which was used with success against U-boats. 

For the invention of the Paravane, of which thousands were 
manufactured. Lieutenant Burney was made acting commander, 
awarded the C. M. G., and given a sum of money, the amount of 
which was not made public. 

THE FERRY TO FRANCE 

One of the most jealously guarded secrets of the war was the 
construction of the terminal of Richborough on the south coast 
of England. On a site of 2,200 acres of waste land near Sandwich 
was built a large railway terminal, storage yards and plant for 
the construction of steel barges. Twenty thousand officers and 
men were employed at this terminal. There three steel ferries were 
constructed, each 363 feet long, 61 feet wide and drawing 10 feet 
of water. They had a speed of twelve knots and a displacement of 
3,655 tons. Each ferry was provided with four tracks running 
the length of the ship and could carry fifty-four ten-ton trucks. 
The trains were run directly on to the ferries at Richborough, 
which was accommodated with movable ferry slips to rise and 



Britain's Effort History's Marvel 485 

fall with the tides. At the terminal in France the trains were run ofif 
and taken direct to their destination. Tanks, artillery and locomo- 
tives were also carried over on these ferries to Calais and Dunkirk. 

The service began in February, 1917, and in the interval to 
the end of the war 1,285,000 tons, of which 785,000 consisted of 
guns and ammunition, were transported to France. 

Two hundred and thirty-two steel barges were also built at 
Richborough and were used to haul material through the canal 
systems in France, right to the army front without transshipment. 
Fifty tugs were used in this work. 

A similar terminal was established opposite Southampton 
with a ferry service to Dieppe. So well was the Richborough 
location concealed, that it was never subjected to bombardment 
by airplane or ZeppeUn. 

BRITISH SECRET SERVICE 

Like the British navy the British Secret Service worked in 
silence. England, of course, was overrun with German spies, many 
of them from neutral countries. As they nearly all attempted to 
forward their letters by post, their efforts were detected by the 
censor. The British Secret Service did not necessarily arrest 
spies at once, but allowed them to ''carry on," reserving the right 
to open the correspondence both ways and make such alterations 
as would benefit the Alhes. Only eight German spies were executed 
in England during the war, but many are undergoing penal servitude. 

So well did the British Intelhgence system work that the 
withdrawal from GallipoH, the construction of tanks, the prepara- 
tions for the offensive at Cambrai, and the final great counter- 
offensive were perfectly concealed from the enemy though they 
were all known to numbers of people in Britain. The efforts of 
the six thousand persons employed in the department were so 
silent and unobtrusive that its very existence was almost unknown 
to the general pubhc. 

Through the efforts of this department enemy remittances 
of $350,000,000 were stopped and the enemy^s overseas communi- 
cation, in so far as they were vulnerable, completely destroyed. 
In controlling speculative transactions in raw materials and 
prices, vast sums of money estimated at approximately $1,000,000,- 
000 were saved the country through the efforts of this service. 



486 Canada's Sons in the World War 

TANKS 

Ludendorff, chief of the German Staff, intimated after the war 
that the Allies won the war because of their tanks and that Ger- 
many, on account of lack of raw materials, had been unable to 
build them in quantity. This was an indirect tribute to the value 
of the British navy. 

The tank was a purely British invention and on its very first 
unheralded appearance during the Somme offensive, proved to be 
a success in breaking through the German defensive system and 
inspiring wholesome fear in the heart of the enemy.-' 

The first British tank weighed about twenty-five tons and 
carried a crew of eight to ten men. In long trips over difficult 
country the large tanks broke down through engine trouble, pre- 
sented a large mark for anti-tank guns, were slow and cumber- 
some. Because of their size the number of tanks in any offensive 
was strictly limited. Furthermore, experience showed that the 
main object of tanks was to carry guns, ammunition and crews, 
and not to crush enemy defences. 

Accordingly a smaller tank was developed capable of carrying 
two men and a machine gun or small cannon. The first small 
tanks to take the field were the British Whippets, which traveled 
up to fifteen miles an hour, were manoeuvred easily, could co- 
ordinate perfectly with infantry and proved a magnificent success 
from the start. During the Foch counter-offensives the French 
brought out their counterpart of the Whippet in the baby Renault 
tank, which also proved a success from the start. The Renault 
tank consisted of an armoured body thirteen feet in length, six 
and a haK feet in height and three feet in width, equipped with a 
caterpillar tread and power plant. The armoured plate is from 
one-fifth to three-fifths of an inch thick of special chrome steel, 
capable of withstanding small arm ammunition and the biu-st 
of small shells. 

CIVILIAN WORK 

To give any adequate conception of what the women and 
men engaged in war work in England accomplished would take 
several chapters. Every one who saw anything of the work 
done was filled with admiration and wonder at the tremendous 
achievements of British women, 1,200,000 of whom replaced men. 



Britain's Effort History's Marvel 487 

113,000 of these were employed in agriculture. The British Gov- 
ernment dispassionately ranked their work with that of the men 
in the army. Lloyd George himself beheved that if it had not 
been for the way in which women had come forward and carried on 
the work of the men, — who had to be taken out of vital indus- 
tries and sent to France to fight in the last great offensives, — 
Great Britain and the AUies would probably have not been able to 
withstand the terrific series of attacks which the enemy launched 
in the spring of 1918 in the hope of dividing the French and 
British armies. 

During the war British factories tinned out 60,000,000 boots 
and suppHed 2,000,000 respirators to the Itahan army. 

Over 1,500,000 men in the British Isles were engaged on 
munition work; 260,000 in industrial work for the Allies; 1,000,000 
for the Admiralty, and 375,000 digging coal. 

FINANCIAL BURDEN 

During the war Great Britain not only raised a huge army 
of over five miUion, equivalent to the continental size, kept the 
seas clear of the enemy, developed the largest and most efficient 
air force and became the greatest manufacturer of ordnance and 
munitions in the world, but she carried the heaviest financial 
burden. _ 

Britain made vast sacrifices of her accumulated wealth in 
helping to win victory for the Allies. 

During the latter period the war cost Britain $35,000,000 per 
day, which was the pre-war income of the nation. She did not 
spare herself as to costs in the war, but if the same expenditures 
had occurred in the United States taking the proportion of income 
that country would have spent about $100,000,000 a day, according 
to Mr. Bonar Law. 

During the war the annual national income of Great Britain 
increased from $2,000,000,000 to $7,000,000,000. Three-quarters 
of the huge national expenditure was met by loan, and one-quarter 
by ordinary revenue, taxation and the hke. 

These resources would have been sufficient to cover the whole 
obhgation incun^ed by the United Kingdom if the Allies had been 
financially self-supporting. But they were not and had to be 
loaned huge sums to enable them to carry on the war. 



488 Canada's Sons in the World War 

To the signing of the armistice Britain had loaned her Allies 
the following sums: 

Russia $2,840,000,000 

France 2,125,000,000 

Italy 1,725,000,000 

Smaller Allies 635,000,000 

Total $7,325,000,000 

Her own dominions were also loaned $218,500,000. 

As Mr. Bonar Law stated: ^'All through the war down to the 
present time it had been nearly true to say that we have met our 
own war requirements on land and sea by our own daily efforts 
without mortgaging the future or dissipating the past. The men- 
ace to our future wealth and prosperity has lain in the necessity 
of finding resources for our Allies outside our own borders, over 
and above the requirements of our own navy and expeditions 
and land forces/' 

Great Britain incurred a great loss of accumulated capital in 
the sale of foreign securities such as American railway bonds. She 
also incurred a heavy loss in the millions of tonnage of mercantile 
marine lost. 

The total national debt of Britain at the end of the financial 
year, 1918, assuming that only one-half of the amounts lent to 
the Allies and the Dominions was repaid, would amount to $34,- 
000,000,000. Against this will be set such compensation as may be 
received from Germany for reparation. 

But the burden of debt will be enormous, and the service of 
the debt, interest and sinking-fund, the payments in the way of 
pensions and other sequels of the war, will produce budget figures 
which would have staggered the imagination of former Chancellors 
of the Exchequer. Provided capital and labour worked together 
harmoniously with the great object of increasing national pro- 
duction, Mr. Bonar Law believed that Britain would rapidly 
repair her losses and advance to new wealth and power. 

AIR FORCES 

The growth of the British Air Service was phenomenal. Be- 
ginning in 1914 the British had altogether just 130 aircraft of all 
types. In the week of August 8th to August 15th, 1918, the British 



Britain's Effort History's Marvel 489 

air forces brought down 339 German machines and dropped 320 
tons of bombs on enemy batteries and ammunition dumps. 

British air squadrons took the lead on the French front, the 
ItaHan front, the Balkan front, in Persia, Palestine and Meso- 
potamia. Other facts will be found in the chapter entitled '^With 
the Canadian Airmen/' 

THE BRITISH ARMY 

The brilliant part played by Britain's "contemptible little 
army'' at the most critical period of the war undoubtedly was a 
great factor in saving France from a speedy defeat. It must be 
remembered that at the beginning the French army was not what 
it developed into later on. Some of the divisions from the south 
of France had not the fighting spirit or the efficiency of the divi- 
sions recruited near the borders of Germany where legends of inva- 
sion had never been forgotten. There was also inefficiency and 
treachery through German agents who had worked up to high posts 
in the French army. And it was one of Joffre's tasks to get rid of 
these, a task which he accomplished with skill and speed. The 
army of one hundred thousand thoroughly trained and equipped 
British regulars was a wonderful addition to the French army at the 
crucial moment, and played a magnificent part in breaking down 
the German war machine. 

At the end of the first year two milHon volunteers had joined 
the colours. Towards the close of May, 1916, King George pub- 
licly announced that more than five million volunteers had entered 
the army and the navy. * 

In August, 1918, Lloyd George said that the British Empire 
had raised for the army and the navy a total of more than 8,500,000 
men. Of this grand total India had contributed 1,500,000; the 
British Dominions 1,000,000; and Great Britam itself 6,255,000. 

At the end of the war every third male in the British Isles, 
including boy babies in arms and men of ninety, was engaged in 
some war service. 

It must never be forgotten that British forces fought not 
only in France, Belgium, Italy, Russia, Siberia and the Balkans, 
but in Kiaochow, New Guinea, Samoa, Mesopotamia, Egypt, 
the Sudan, Cameroons, Togoland, East Africa, Southwest Africa, 
Aden, Persia and Afghanistan. At no time were more than 1,750,000 



490 Canada's Sons in the World War 

British troops actually engaged on the French front and on lines 
of communication. In all British soldiers suffered some 3,000,000 
casualties, while about 900,000 suffered death. 

Unmoved by criticism, by sneers and worse from some who 
considered themselves masters of military strategy. Great Britain 
kept armies in Salonika, Mesopotamia and Palestine. The un- 
conditional surrender of Bulgaria, with its disastrous consequences 
to the Central Powers, proved the worth of that ^'Divine Folly." 

THE HEAVIEST FIGHTING FALLS ON THE BRITISH 

The work of the British troops in the last one hundred days 
of the war can be no better expressed than in the tribute paid to 
them by Sir Douglas Haig in his official despatch: 

'^In three months of epic fighting the British armies in France 
have brought to a sudden and dramatic end the great wearing- 
out battle of the last four years. 

"In our admiration for this outstanding achievement the long 
years of patient and heroic struggle by which the strength and 
spirit of the enemy were gradually broken down cannot be for- 
gotten. The strain of those years was never-ceasing, the demands 
they made upon the best of the empire^s manhood are now known. 
Yet throughout all those years, and amid the hopes and disappoint- 
ments they brought with them, the confidence of our troops in 
final victory never w^avered. Their courage and resolution rose 
superior to every test, their cheerfulness never failing, however 
terrible the conditions in which they lived and fought. By the 
long road they trod with so much faith and with such devoted 
and self-sacrificing bravery we have arrived at victory, and to-day 
they have their reward. 

*^The work begun and persevered in so steadfastly by those 
brave men has been completed during the present year with a 
thoroughness to which the event bears witness, and with a gallantry 
which will live for all time in the history of our coimtry. The 
annals of war hold record of no more wonderful recovery than that 
which, three months after the tremendous blows showered upon 
them on the Somme and on the Lys, saw the undefeated British 
armies advancing from victory to victory, driving their erstwhile 
triumphant enemy back to and far beyond the line from which he 
started, and finally forcing him to acknowledge iijiconditional defeat. 



Britain's Effort History's Marvel 491 

''The great series of victories won by the British forces between 
August Sth and November 11th is the outstanding feature of the 
events described in this dispatch. At Amiens and Bapaume, in 
the breaking of the Drocourt-Qu^ant and Hindenburg systems, 
before Le Cateau and on the Selle, in Flanders and on the Sambre, 
the enemy was again and again brought to battle and defeated. 

''In the decisive contests of this period, the strongest and most 
vital parts of the enemy's front were attacked by the British, his 
lateral communications were cut and his best divisions fought to 
a standstill. On the different battlefronts 187,000 prisoners and 
2,850 guns were captured by us, bringing the total of our prisoners 
for the present year to over 201,000. Immense numbers of machine 
guns and trench mortars were taken also, the figures of those 
actually counted exceeding 29,000 machine guns and some 3,000 
trench mortars. These results were achieved by fifty-nine fighting 
British divisions, which in the course of three months of battle 
engaged and defeated ninety-nine separate German divisions. 

"This record furnishes the proof of the skill of our commanders 
and their staffs, as well as of the fine fighting qualities of the 
British regimental officer and soldier. It is a proof also of the over- 
whelmingly decisive part played by the British armies on the 
western front in bringing the enemy to his final defeat." 



CHAPTER XXXIII 
Germany Pleads for Peace by Negotiation 

Everyivhere on the western front the German armies were 
being driven back, with heavy losses of men and material, by the 
allied armies. This, together with the collapse of Bulgaria, had 
made it necessary for Germany to conclude some kind of a peace 
by negotiation before irretrievable disaster met the armies of the 
Central Powers. Accordingly Prince Maximihan of Baden, who 
had succeeded von HertHng as Imperial Chancellor, on September 
30th proceeded, with the co-operation of Turkey and Austria- 
Hungary, to launch a new peace drive, using the speech made by 
President Wilson in New York on September 27th as the basis 
of peace negotiations. The new Chancellor was willing to make 
greater concessions than had ever been offered before by Germany. 

The note sent by Germany through the Swiss Government 
to President Wilson stated that the programme set forth by the 
President to Congress on January 8th and ia his speech of September 
27th would be accepted as a basis for peace negotiations. The 
German Government asked that the President acquaiat all the 
belUgerents mth this request, invite them to send plenipotentiaries 
for the purpose of opening negotiations, and that an armistice 
on land, sea, and in the air be immediately concluded. 

President Wilson, in replying, stated that he could not suggest 
an armistice as long as German armies were ia alHed territory, 
and asked whether the Imperial Chancellor was speaking merely 
for the constituted authorities of the German Empire, who had 
so far conducted the war. This unexpected reply caused much 
discussion, being commented on most favorably in Great Britain 
and regarded as a shrew^d move everywhere. 

The Germans' first reply appeared to accept the President's 
proposition to evacuate uivaded territory, and Berlui, beheving the 
note to be an unselfish peace offer, went wild with excitement at 
the prospect of peace. 

Before the President made his second reply fresh devastations 

(492) 



Germany Pleads for Peace by Negotiation 493 

in France and new submarine atrocities occurred, particularly 
that in which a British mail steamer was torpedoed off Ireland 
with the loss of hundreds of lives, including more than one hundred 
.women and children. 

President Wilson's second note stated the alHed position in 
no equivocal terms. He said that at the very moment Germany 
sought peace her retreating armies were wantonly destroying 
French towns while her submarines were killing innocent citizens, 
both of which procedures have always been regarded as a direct 
violation of the rules and practises of civiHzed warfare; that while 
acts of spoUation, inhumanity and desolation were being continued, 
the nations associated against Germany could not be expected to 
agree to a cessation of arms and would recall to the attention of 
the German Government a paragraph in an address delivered by 
him on July 4, 1918, which read: 

The destruction of every arbitrary power everywhere that can sepa- 
rately, secretly and of its single choice disturb the peace of the world; 
or if it cannot be presently destroyed, at least its reduction to virtual 
impotency. 

The President went on to say that the power which had 
hitherto controlled the German nation was of the sort there described 
and that it was within the choice of the German nation to alter it, 
adding that the words just quoted would constitute a condition 
precedent to peace. 

The President feels bound to say that the whole process of peace will, 
in his judgment, depend upon the definiteness and the satisfactory character 
of the guarantees which can be given in this fundamental matter. It is 
indispensable that the governments associated against Germany should 
know beyond a peradventure with whom they are dealing. 

This note met with universal approval by the allied nations, 
being interpreted as a demand that the HohenzoUerns get out, 
together with the German autocracy responsible for the war. 
In Germany the note had the effect of a cold douche ending for the 
time all hope of a peace by negotiation. 

FOCH REPLIES BY RENEWED BLOWS 

The effect of the Peace Drive had no effect upon the alhed 
armies except to convince them that Germany had lost every 
vestige of hope of a victory by arms. 



494 Canada's Sons in' the World War 

Under the direction of Foch, the allied commander-in-chief, 
the military battering ram drove new breaches in the German 
front, with, if possible, renewed power and energy. 

LE CATEAU 

The result of the British successes showed itself immediately 
in the withdrawal of the enemy from the Lys front where Sir W. 
Birdwood, with his reorganized Fifth Army, kept pressing the 
retiring Germans. 

The second and final phase of the British offensive now opened, 
in which the Foiu-th and Third armies and the right of the First 
Army moved forward with their left flank on the canal which 
runs from Cambrai to Mons and their right covered by the French 
First Army. This advance, by the capture of Maubeuge and the 
disrupting of the German main lateral system of commimications, 
forced the enemy to fall back upon the Hne of the Meuse. 

During that period the fighting which took place as a result 
of the development and exploitation of the Hindenburg line victory 
fell into three stages. These stages depended chiefly upon the 
depth of the advances made and the difficulties of re-estabhshing 
communications. 

On October 8th the Third and Fourth British armies attacked 
over a seventeen-mile front from Sequehart to the south of Cambrai, 
while French troops continued the line of attack southeast to St. 
Quentin. South of this again French and American troops attacked 
east of the Meuse and in Champagne making important progress. 

The enemy Hne along the British front was quickly penetrated 
to the depth of three and four miles and as a result the enemy's 
resistance gave way and he retired steadily towards Le Cateau. 
Thousands of prisoners and many guns were taken. The following 
night the Canadian Corps captured RamilHes and entered Cambrai 
at the same time British troops entered it from the south. Next 
day the advance continued, the British cavalry doing great work 
harrying the enemy's retirement and preventing him from destroying 
railways. A dashing charge by the Canadian Fort Garry Horse 
on Cattigny Wood where strong enemy resistance developed 
enabled the infantry to press forward while Dragoon Guards and 
Canadian cavalry captured several villages. Meanwhile to our 
right the First French Army advanced to the Oise-Sambre Canal. 



Germany Pleads for Peace by Negotiation 495 

As the Selle River was approached the enemy resistance 
stiffened, bringing to an end the first stage of the advance. 

In this advance twenty British infantry, one American infantry 
and two British cavahy divisions routed twenty-four German 
divisions, captured 12,000 prisoners and 250 guns and obtained 
possession of the railway running from St. Quentin to Cambrai. 

By October 13th our armies had reached the Selle River at 
all points south of Haspres and had estabHshed bridgeheads. Mean- 
while, on October 7th, the enemy had withdrawn south of Lens and 
by October 13th had reached the suburbs of Douai. 

BATTLE OF THE SELLE RIVER 

The lines of communication having* sufficiently improved 
the British commenced to force the Selle River with the object of 
attaining the general line of the Sambre and Oise Canal at the west 
edge of the Forest of Mormal- Valenciennes. 

On October 17th the Fourth British Army attacked on a front 
of ten miles from Le Cateau southward, the French First Army 
attacking in conjunction with us west of the Sambre and Oise 
Canal. The assault was dehvered by five British and two American 
divisions. The enemy, well supported by artillery, fought obstinately, 
but by the evening of October 19th, after much severe fighting, 
had been driven across the Sambre and Oise Canal at practically 
all points south of Catillon. On October 20th nine British divisions 
of the Third and First armies attacked the line of the Selle River 
north of Le Cateau. The enemy, protected by new wire entangle- 
ments, bitterly contested our advance, but, supported by tanks, 
our infantry, after hard fighting, gained their objectives on the 
high ground east of the Selle River. Other troops of the First 
Army progressed on both sides of the Scheldt Canal and occupied 
Denain. 

The captm-e of the Selle position was followed, on October 
23d, by a large operation involving an assault by fifteen British 
divisions on a fifteen-mile front from Mazinghien to Maison Bleue. 
On the following day three more British divisions continued the 
attack for another five miles north to the Scheldt. The fighting 
was severe, but by the evening of October 24th our troops were 
within a mile of Le Quesnoy and three days later the fine was 
estabHshed north and east of the Le Quesnoy- Valenciennes railway. 



496 Canada's Sons in the World War 

In this battle twenty-four British and two American divisions had 
beaten thirty-one German divisions and captured 20,000 prisoners 
and 475 guns. 

THE ENEMY^S POSITION AT THE END OF OCTOBER 

The rapid succession of heavy blows dealt by the British forces 
had had a cumulative effect, both moral and material, upon the 
German armies. His reserves had become exhausted and his 
enormous losses of guns, ammunition and material had increased 
with each successive attack. Though resistance was made to our 
initial assaults the German infantry and machine gunners were 
no longer rehable. Cases were reported of their retirement without 
fighting before our artillery barrage. 

The desperate condition of her Austrian ally, which the aUied 
successes rendered impossible to alleviate, and the capitulation of 
her other alHes — Bulgaria and Turkey — made Germany's ulti- 
mate defeat a certainty, though it was possible that the struggle 
might be protracted. The British armies were now, however, in a 
position to prevent this by a direct attack upon a vital centre which 
would anticipate the enemy's withdrawal and force an immediate 
conclusion. 

BATTLE OF THE SAMBRE 

On November 1st and 2d three British divisions and the 
Fourth Canadian division attacked on a six-mile front and, after 
heavy fighting, the British estabhshed themselves in their objec- 
tives on the high ground across the Rhonelle River while the 
Canadians captured Valenciennes. 

The enemy then began withdrawing his line from threatened 
positions but before this could be successfully accomphshed an 
attack w^as made along a thirty-mile front from the Sambre to 
Valenciennes. The country attacked was most difficult; the river 
had to be crossed and streams, running parallel to the line of 
advance, and woods presented formidable obstacles. Nevertheless 
the British were now perfectly satisfied that they had the enemy 
on the run and surmounting all obstacles advanced to a depth of 
five miles on the first day. Severe fighting took place but the British 
were everywhere victorious, capturing numerous towns, including 
Le Quesnoy by the New Zealand division. During these operations, 



Germany Pleads for Peace by Negotiation 497 

twenty-two British divisions utterly defeated thirty-two German 
divisions, capturing 19,000 more prisoners and 450 guns. 

On the British right the French First Army, continuing the 
line of attack, kept pace with us, capturing 5,000 prisoners and 
a number of guns. 

THE EETURN TO MONS 

As a result of this great victory the enemy^s resistance was 
definitely broken and on the night of November 4th his troops 
began to fall back all along the battle front. 

Throughout the following days amid continuous rain, which 
imposed great hardships on our troops, infantry and cavalry pressed 
forward with scarcely a check, keeping in close touch with the 
rapidly retreating Germans. 

The roads, packed with enemy troops and transport, made 
great targets for our airmen, who took full advantage of every 
opportunity, despite the unfavom-able weather. Thirty guns, 
which aerial bombs and machine-gun fire alone had forced the 
enemy to abandon, were taken by one battalion. 

North of the Mons-Conde Canal numerous explosions behind 
the German lines indicated the enemy withdrawal in that area and 
on the following morning corps of the First and Fifth armies 
advanced across the Scheldt on a considerable front. 

By November 9th the enemy was in general retreat along 
the whole British front. The fortress of Maubeuge was entered by 
the Guards division and Sixty-second division while the Canadians 
were approachiag Mons. 

Next day all of the five British armies advanced, preceded by 
cavalry and cyclists. Only in front of Mons was any substantial 
opposition met with and there the Canadians, advanciag from 
the south and west and working around it to the north, encountered 
an organized and tenacious machine-gun resistance. Further 
north the cavalry had reached Ath, and the line was far to the 
east of ToiuTiai. Renaix had also been captured and British troops 
were approaching Grammont. 

In the morning of November 11th the Third Canadian division 
captured Mons, the whole of the defending force being killed or 
taken prisoners. 

At 11 A. M. on November 11th, in accordance with instructions 



498 Canada's Sons in the World War 

received from the commander-in-chief of the allied armies, 
hostilities were suspended. 

THE MILITARY SITUATION ON THE BRITISH FRONT ON NOVEMBER IItH 

Since November 1st British troops had broken the enemy's 
resistance beyond possibiUty of recovery and had forced on him a 
disorderly retreat along the whole front of the British armies. 
Thereafter the enemy was capable neither of accepting nor refusing 
battle. The utter confusion of his troops, the state of his railways 
congested with abandoned trains, the capture of huge quantities of 
rolling stock and material all showed that our attacks had been 
decisive. It had been followed on the north by the evacuation of 
the Tournai salient, and to the south, where the French forces had 
pushed forward in conjunction with us, by a rapid and costly with- 
drawal to the line of the Meuse. 

The strategic plan of the AlHes had been reaHzed with a 
completeness rarely seen in war. When the armistice was signed 
by the enemy his defensive powers had already been definitely 
destroyed. A continuance of hostihties could only have meant 
disaster to the German armies and the armed invasion of Germany. 

There is Httle doubt that the magnificent accompUshment of 
the British was the most glorious achievement in the whole history 
of the British army. The overcoming of the Somme defences in 
August was a superb feat; the breaking of the Hindenburg line, 
with weakened forces, was almost superhuman. It is possible 
that in future years the miracle by which fifty-nine British divisions 
inflicted such crushing defeat on ninety-nine German divisions, 
will be found due to a considerable extent in swift tanks which played 
such a vital part in affording us a tactical superiority. So great 
was the effect produced on the Germans by British tanks that in 
more than one instance, when real tanks were not available, results 
were obtained by the use of dummy canvas tanks. It was quite 
evident that the superior morale of the British was a vital factor 
and proved for all time that the manhood of a free empire was more 
than a match for the armies of a mihtary autocracy. 

The dramatic change which occurred in the mihtary situation 
was undoubtedly due to the genius of Marshal Foch, whose 
strategic conception was carried out with such wonderful loyalty 
and precision by all the allied armies. By it the whole cam- 



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LIBERATORS OF DENAIN 

Canadians marching in review past the Prince of Wales and 
General Sir Arthur Currie. 




VICTORIOUS ENTRY OF THE CANADIAN ARMY INTO MONS 

The last great exploit of the Canadian troops before the signing of the armistice 
was the bitterly contested struggle for this historic city. This photograph shows 
the Canadian Field Artillery passing through the square on November 11, 1918. 



f;^.'**** y ., - 



Germany Pleads for Peace by Negotiation 501 

paign was revolutionized. The great French strategist, by 
raining a series of blows timed to achieve the maximum result, 
broke down the enemy front and the enemy morale at the same 
time. The decisive effort of the whole campaign was probably the 
battle of Cambrai, from September 27th to October 8th, in 
which the British First, Third and Fourth armies broke through 
the vast defences of the Hindenburg system. It was that victory 
that broke General Ludendorff's nerve and was the cause of the^ 
first appeal to President Wilson for an armistice. 

MUTINY IN THE GERMAN NAVY 

As early as the spring of 1915 there were minor mutinies on 
different German warships and on September 7, 1915, the Kaiser 
addressed a '^ strictly secret'^ special order to the officers of the 
Imperial navy exhorting them to be less severe in maintaining 
discipline among the men. Discontent increased, however, and 
in March, 1916, a mutiny occurred on one battleship and a few 
weeks later a more serious affair as a result of which thirty of the 
ringleaders were condemned to death. 

In the spring a more serious mutiny occurred in the High 
Seas Fleet in which the captain of one vessel was thrown overboard 
and drowned and other officers wounded. One hundred and 
ninety men were executed for taking part in this mutiny. 

The final successful mutiny occiured on October 31, 1918, 
when the Admiral commanding the High Seas Fleet gave the 
signal to put to sea. One captain made a patriotic speech to his 
sailors ending with a statement to the effect that they would fight 
to the last shot and then go down with colours flying. The sailors 
interpreting this as a last desperate attempt to fight the British 
navy and be made a sacrifice of, promptly extinguished the fires 
and flooded the holds with water. The mutineers immediately 
commimicated with the next vessel and the crew of the Helgoland 
also broke into open mutiny. 

Torpedo boats were then despatched by the Admiral, the 
mutineers, 1,500 in number, surrendered and were taken to Wil- 
hehnshaven to await their trial. 

On the same day smaller troubles on other ships showed the 
impossibihty of the High Seas Fleet putting to sea. Within 
twenty-four hours most of the crews and the whole of the marine 



502 Canada's Sons in the World War 

garrison of Wilhelmshaven were in open revolt! The men at 
Kiel followed suit and by November 2d Cuxhaven, Brunsbuttelj 
Emden and Ltibeck were in the hands of the mutineers. The Ger- 
man fleet had virtually ceased to exist. 

In Berhn it was not considered wise to send soldiers against 
the mutineers and the latter seizing their opportunity sent repre- 
sentatives to Berlin, Munich and other cities to stir up the Sociahsts 
and revolutionary centres. 

The fact has been definitely estabHshed that the naval mutiny 
resulted in the contagion spreading to the civilians and from them 
to the army at the front. 

REVOLUTION IN BERLIN 

For months before the naval mutiny, preparations had been 
secretly made by Independent Socialists and Spartacus communists 
for an armed uprising in Berlin and other centres. The Army 
General Staff, knowing of the secret preparations for revolt, had 
select bodies of soldiers, equipped with light and heavy artillery, 
machine guns, gas bombs, hand grenades, gas masks and other 
paraphernaUa, ready for action in Berlin, Spandau and elsewhere. 

Upon arrival of the sailors' emissaries the Independent Sociahsts 
fixed November 11th as the date of a general strike under the 
disguise of which they would begin a revolution. The Scheidemann 
Sociahsts, formerly docile government supporters, suddenly went 
over and joined forces with the Independent Socialists. Almost 
immediately they secured the support of the Berlin garrison and 
particularly of the special corps sent in to put down the uprising, 
thus assuring the success of the revolution. Prince Max of Baden, 
the German Chancellor, beheving that none but a purely Sociahst 
Government could avert war, resigned his post and Scheidemann, 
not certain of the results of the revolution, thrust his colleague 
Ebert into the supreme position. 



CHAPTER XXXIV 
The Fall of Kings and Empires 

Not knowing anything of what was occurring in Germany, or 
of the conditions either physical or mental through which the 
German nation was passing, the end of the war came wdth startling 
suddenness to the whole world. Little was kno^Ti of the strike of 
the sailors of the High Sea Fleet ; nothing was known of the revolu- 
tion in Berlin or of its spread to the army. The fate of Bulgaria, 
Turkey and Austria-Hungary had made the end appear inevitable, 
but that it would come mth such dramatic force was wholly 
unexpected. 

When the Germans by wireless signified their desire for an 
armistice the German representatives were dkected to proceed, on 
November 5th, to Chimoy, the spot designated, and cross the line 
at a certain hour. At 3 p. m. the French had orders to cease fire 
along the front near which the envoys were to cross and, late in the 
evening, the seven automobiles carrying the party passed through 
to the Forest of Compiegne where two trains stood on a siding, 
one used by Marshal Foch and the other for the use of the Germans. 

There they were received by the allied commander-in-chief 
and given the dictated terms of surrender. There were no real 
negotiations. The Germans discussed the clauses for two days 
during which they were handed Paris newspapers announcing the 
flight of the Kaiser. The plenipotentiaries protested to the last 
against the armistice but they signed it and on November 11th at 
11 o'clock in the morning the great war came to an end. 

The International Armistice Commission began its sittings on 
November 12th at Spa, Belgium, in the grand salon of the Hotel 
Britannique. Before each sitting at 10 A. m. the German delegates 
arrived and stood in their places at a large table. The alHed 
delegates then arrived and each bowed to the man opposite him 
before sitting down. There were no smiles, no pleasantries and 
everything was done wdth grim precision. 

The terms of the armistice were the most severe ever imposed 

(503) 



504 Canada's Sons in' the World War 

upon a first-class power and had at least two great primary objects. 
The first was to make it impossible for Germany to ever begin 
another war of aggression; the second was to make the German 
nation reaHze that though it had narrowly escaped invasion, it 
still had to pay the price of war and make what reparation was 
possible to the nations which it had planned to destroy. 
The terms of the German armistice were as follows: 

THE GERMAN ARMISTICE 

I. Mihtary clauses on Western front: 

1. Cessation of operations by land and in the air six hours after 
the signature of the armistice. 

2. Immediate evacuation of invaded countries: Belgium, 
France, Alsace-Lorraine, Luxembiu-g, so ordered as to be completed 
within fourteen days from the signature of the armistice. German 
troops which have not left the above mentioned territories within 
the period fixed will become prisoners of war. Occupation by the 
Allied and United States forces jointly wall keep pace with evacua- 
tion in these areas. All movements of evacuation and occupation 
will be regulated in accordance with a note annexed to the stated 
terms. 

3. Repatriation beginning at once and to be completed within 
fifteen days of all inhabitants of the countries above mentioned, 
including hostages and persons under trial or convicted. 

4. Surrender in good condition by the German armies of the 
following equipment: Five thousand guns (two thousand five 
hundred heavy, two thousand five hxmdred field), twenty-five 
thousand machine guns, three thousand minenwerfers, seventeen 
hundred airplanes. The above to be delivered in situ to the Allies 
and the United States troops in accordance with the detailed con- 
ditions laid down in the annexed note. 

6. Evacuation by the German armies of the countries on the 
left bank of the Rhine. These countries on the left bank of the 
Rhine shall be administered by the local troops of occupation 
under the control of the Allied and United States armies of occu- 
pation. The occupation of these territories will be carried out by 
Allied and United States garrisons holding the principal crossings 
of the Rhine, Mayence, Coblenz, Cologne, together with bridge- 
heads at these points in thirty kilometer radius on the right bank 



The Fall of Kings and Empires 505 

and by garrisons similarly holding the strategic points of the 
regions. 

A neutral zone shall be reserved on the right of the Rhine 
between the stream and a Hne drawn parallel to it forty kilometers 
(twenty-six miles) to the east from the frontier of Holland to the 
parallel of Gernsheim and as far as practicable a distance of thirty 
kilometers (twenty miles) from the east of stream from this parallel 
upon Swiss frontier. Evacuation by the enemy of the Rhine lands 
shall be so ordered as to be completed within a further period of 
sixteen days, in all — thirty-one days after the signature of the armis- 
tice. All movements of evacuation and occupation will be regu- 
lated according to the note annexed. 

6. In all territory evacuated by the enemy there shall be no 
evacuation of inhabitants; no damage or harm shall be done to the 
persons or property of the inhabitants. No destruction of any kind 
to be committed. MiHtary estabhshments of all kinds shall be 
delivered as well as miUtary stores of food, munitions, equipment 
not removed during the periods fixed for evacuation. Stores of 
food of all kinds for the civil population, cattle, etc., shall be left 
in situ. Industrial estabhshments shall not be impaired in any 
way and their personnel shall not be moved. Roads and means of 
communication of every kind, railroad, waterways, main roads, 
bridges, telegraphs, telephones, shall be in no manner impaired. 
No person shall be prosecuted for offenses of participation in war 
measures prior to the signing of the armistice. 

7. All civil and mihtary personnel at present employed on them 
shall remain. Five thousand locomotives, one hundred fifty 
thousand wagons and five thousand motor lorries in good working 
order with all necessary spare parts and fittings shall be deUvered 
to the associated Powers within the period fixed for the evacuation 
of Belgium and Luxemburg. The railways of Alsace-Lorraine shall 
be handed over within thirty-six days, together with all pre-war 
personnel and material. Further material necessary for the work- 
ing of railways in the country on the left bank of the Rhine shall 
be left in situ. All stores of coal and material for the upkeep of 
permanent ways, signals and repair shops left entu^e in situ and 
kept in an ejQ&cient state by Germany during the whole period of 
armistice. All barges taken from the Allies shall be restored to 
them. All civil and military personnel at present employed on 



506 Canada's Sons in the World War 

such means of communication and transporting including water- 
ways shall remain. A note appended regulates the details of these 
measures. 

8. The German command shall be responsible for revealing 
within forty-eight hours all mines or delay acting fuses disposed 
on territory evacuated by the German troops and shall assist in 
their discovery and destruction. The German command shall also 
reveal all destructive measures that may have been taken (such 
as poisoning or polluting of springs, wells, etc.) under penalty of 
reprisals. 

9. The right of requisition shall be exercised by the AUies and 
the United States armies in all occupied territory, ^'subject to 
regulation of accounts with those whom it may concern.'' The 
upkeep of the troops of occupation in the Rhine land (excluding 
Alsace-Lorraine) shall be charged to the German Government. 

10. An immediate repatriation without reciprocity according 
to detailed conditions which shall be fixed, of all AUied and United 
States prisoners of war. The AlHed Powers and the United States 
shall be able to dispose of these prisoners as they wish. This 
condition annuls the previous conventions on the subject of the 
exchange of prisoners of war, including the one of July, 1918, in 
course of ratification. However, the repatriation of German 
prisoners of war interned in Holland and in Switzerland shall 
continue as before. The repatriation of German prisoners of war 
shall be regulated at the conclusion of the preliminaries of peace." 

11. Sick and wounded, who cannot be removed from evacuated 
territory will be cared for by German personnel who will be left on 
the spot with the medical material required. 

II. Disposition relative to the eastern frontiers of Germany: 

12. All German troops at present in any territory which before 
the war belonged to Rumania, Turkey or Austria-Hungary shall 
immediately withdraw within the frontiers of Germany as they 
existed on August 1, 1914. German troops now in Russian territory 
shall withdraw within the frontiers of Germany, as soon as the 
AUies, taking into account the internal situation of those territories, 
shall decide that the time for this has come. 

13. Evacuation by German troops to begin at once and all 
German instructors, prisoners and civihan as well as military agents, 



The Fall of Kings and Empires 507 

now on the territory of Russia (as defined before 1914) to be 
recalled. 

14. German troops to cease at once all requisitions and seizures 
and any other undertakings with a view to obtaining supplies 
intended for Germany in Rumania and Russia (as defined on 
August 1, 1914). 

15. Renunciation of the treaties of Bucharest and Brest- 
Litovsk and of the supplementary treaties. 

16. The Allies shall have free access to the territories evacuated 
by the Germans on their eastern frontier either through Danzig or 
by the Vistula in order to convey supplies to the populations of 
those territories and for the purpose of maintaining order. 

III. Clause concerning East Africa: 

17. Evacuation by all German forces operating in East Africa 
within a period to be fixed by the Allies. 

IV. General clauses: 

18. Repatriation, without reciprocity, within maximum period 
of one month, in accordance with detailed conditions hereafter to 
be fixed, of all civilians interned or deported v/ho may be citizens of 
other allied or associated states than those mentioned in clause 
three, paragraph nineteen. 

19. The following financial conditions are required : Reparation 
for damage done. While such armistice lasts no public securities 
shall be removed by the enemy which can serve as a pledge to the 
Alhes for the recovery or repatriation of the cash deposit, in the 
National Bank of Belgimn, and in general immediate return of all 
docmnents, specie, stocks, shares, paper money together with plant 
for the issue thereof, touching public or private interests in the 
invaded coimtries. Restitution of the Russian and Rumanian 
gold yielded to Germany or taken by that Power. This gold to 
be delivered in trust to the Allies until the signature of peace. 

V. Naval conditions: 

20. Immediate cessation of all hostilities at sea and definite 
information to be given as to the location and movements of all 
German ships. Notification to be given to neutrals that freedom 
of navigation in all territorial waters is given to the naval and mer- 



508 Canada's Sons in the World War 

chant marines of the allied and associate Powers, all questions of 
neutrality being waived. 

21. All naval and mercantile marine prisoners of war of the 
alUed and' associated Powers in German hands to be returned 
without reciprocity. 

22. Surrender to the AlHes and the United States of America 
all German submarines now existing (including all submarine 
cruisers and mine laying submarines), with their complete arma- 
ment and equipment, in ports which will be specified by the AUies 
and the United States of America. Those which cannot take the 
sea shall be disarmed of the material and personnel and shall 
remain under the supervision of the AlHes and the United States. 
All the conditions of the article shall be carried into effect within 
fom-teen days. Submarines ready for sea shall be prepared to 
leave German ports immediately upon orders by wireless, and the 
remainder at the earUest possible moment. 

23. The following German surface warships which shall be 
designated by the AUies and the United States of America shall 
forthwith be disarmed and thereafter interned in neutral ports, to 
be designated by the Allies and the United States of America and 
placed under the surveillance of the AUies and the United States of 
America, only caretaS rs being left on board, namely: 

Six battle cruisers, ten battleships, eight Hght cruisers, including 
two mine layers, fifty destroyers of the most modem type. All 
other surface warships (including river craft) are to be concentrated 
in naval bases to be designated by the AUies and the United States 
of America, and are to be paid off and completely disarmed and 
placed under the supervision of the AUies and the United States of 
America. AU vessels of the auxiliary fleet (trawlers, motor vessels, 
etc.), are to be disarmed. Vessels designated for internment, shaU 
be ready to leave German ports within seven days upon directions 
by wireless, and the mihtary armament of aU vessels of the auxiUary 
fleet shaU be put on shore. 

24. The AUies and the United States of America shaU have the 
right to sweep aU mine fields and obstructions laid by Germany 
outside German territorial waters, and the positions of these are to 
be indicated. 

25. Freedom of access to and from the Baltic to be given to the 
naval and mercantile marine of the alUed and associated Powers. 



The Fall of Kings and Empires 509 

To seciu'C this Allies and the United States of America shall be 
empowered to occupy all German forts, fortifications, batteries and 
defense works of all kinds in all the entrances from the Cattegat 
into the Baltic, and to sweep up all mines and obstructions within 
and without German territorial waters \^dthout any question of 
neutrality being raised, and the positions of all such mines and 
obstructions are to be indicated. 

26. The existing blockade conditions set up by the alhed and 
associated Powers are to remain unchanged and all German 
merchant ships found at sea are to remain liable to capture. The 
Alhes and the United States shall have consideration to the provi- 
sioning of Germany during the armistice to the extent recog- 
nized as necessary. 

27. All naval aircraft are to be concentrated and immobihzed 
in German bases to be specified by the Allies and the United States 
of America. 

28. In evacuating the Belgian coasts and ports, Germany shall 
abandon all merchant ships, tugs, Hghters, cranes and all other 
harbour materials, all materials for inland navigation, all aircraft 
and all materials and stores, all arms and armaments, and all stores 
and apparatus of all kinds. 

29. All Black Sea ports are to be evacuated by Germany, all 
Russian war vessels of all descriptions seized by Germany in the 
Black Sea are to be handed over to the AUies and the United States 
of America; all neutral merchant vessels seized are to be released; 
all warlike and other materials of all kinds seized in those ports are 
to be returned and German materials as specified in clause twenty- 
eight are to be abandoned. 

30. All merchant vessels in German hands belonging to the 
aUied and associated Powers are to be restored in ports to be speci- 
fied by the Allies and the United States of America without reci- 
procity. 

31. No destruction of ships or materials to be permitted before 
evacuation, surrender or restoration. 

32. The German Government will notify neutral governments 
of the world, and particularly the Governments of Norway, Sweden, 
Denmark and Holland, that all restrictions placed on the trading of 
their vessels vnih the allied and associated countries, whether by 
the German Government or by private German interests, and 

29 



510 Canada's Sons in the World War 

whether in return for specific concessions such as the export of 
shipbuilding materials or not, are immediately cancelled 

33. No transfers of German merchant shipping of any descrip- 
tion to any neutral flag are to take place after signature of the 
armistice. 

VT. Duration of armistice: 

34. The duration of the armistice is to be thirty days, with 
option to extend. During this period, on failure of execution of 
any of the above clauses, the armistice may be denounced by one 
of the contracting parties on forty-eight hours' previous notice. 
It is understood that the execution of Articles 3 and 18 shall not 
warrant the denunciation of the armistice on the ground of insuflfi- 
cient execution within a period fixed, except in the case of bad faith 
in carrying them into execution. In order to assume the execution 
of this convention under the best conditions, the principle of a 
Permanent International Armistice Commission is admitted. This 
commission shall act under the authority of the alhed mihtary and 
naval commanders-in-chief. 

VIII. Time Limit for reply: 

35. This armistice to be accepted or refused by Germany within 
seventy-two hours of notification. 

FOLLOWING THE ARMISTICE 

The German Emperor fled from Spa, Belgium, by motor car 
and crossed the Dutch border on November 10th into Holland. 
There, after some delay, he was given a train and completed his 
journey by rail to Amerongen, where a friend, Count Bentinck, 
was to give him his house as an asylum. All the way along the 
stations swarmed with Belgian refugees and others who hissed 
the German party and shouted *'Down mth WilHam, the Assassin!'^ 
At Amerongen, William Hohenzollem kept in close touch with 
conditions in Germany, and on November 28th, 1918, signed his 
abdication. It read: 

By the present document I renounce forever my rights to the crown 
of Prussia and the rights to the German imperial crown. I release at 
the same time all the officials of the German Empii'e and Prussia and 
also all officers, non-commissioned officers and soldiers of the Prussian 



The Fall of Kings and Empires 511 

na\'y and army and of contingents from confederated states from the 
oath of fidelity they have taken to me, as their emperor, king, and 
supreme chief. 

I expect from them mitil a new organization of the German Empire 
exists that they will aid those who effectively hold the power in Germany 
to protect the German people against the menacing dangers of anarchy, 
famine, and foreign domination. 

Made and executed and signed by our own hand with the imperial 
seal at Amerongen, November 28 (1918). 

WiLHELM. 

The late Crown Prince, Frederich Wilhelm, was interned on 
the island of Wieringen where he was given the extremely modest 
local parsonage. Six months before the ex-Kaiser had issued the 
pompous message: ^'This morning William stormed the Chemin 
des Dames." On December 1st at Wieringen the son issued the 
following statement: 

I renounce formally and definitely all rights to the crown of Prussia 
and the imperial crown, which would have fallen to me by the renunciation 
of the Emperor-King, or for other reasons. 

Given by my authority and signed by my hand; done at Wieringen, 
December 1, 1918. 

Frederich Wilhelm. 

Under the terms of the armistice of November 11th the 
Germans agreed to evacuate all invaded allied territory by 
November 25th, and at once began their march toward the Rhine, 
closely followed by the allied armies. 

The seventeen German armies consisted of about 3,000,000 
bayonets, and the allied armies of 5,938,000, made up as follows: 

Two Belgian armies 300,000 combat troops 

Five British armies 1,500,000 

Three American armies 1,338,000 

Ten French armies 2,500,000 

One ItaUan, Polish and Czecho-Slovak army . . . 300,000 



5,938,000 

The east bank of the Rhine for six miles and the areas around 
Cologne, Coblenz and Mainz within a radius of eighteen miles were 
to be com.pletely freed of enemy troops. The armies of occupation 
consisted of all the Belgian, two British, one American and three 
French armies, 



512 



Canada's Sons in the World War 



THE BRITISH ARMY 

On December 1st British troops crossed the Belgian border 
and entered Germany. Defeat, revolution and the fear of worse 
things that might happen made the German people in general 




Courtesy cf the New York Times. 

THE ALLIED WATCH ON THE RHINE. 

On November 1 1, 1918, Germany signed an armis- 
tice the terms of which were the most severe ever 
imposed en a first-class power. The map indicates 
the forced German retirement to the line cf dashes 
bcundirg the neutral zone established on the right 
bank of the Rhine. The solid black line on the 
ext-eme lf;f fc indicates the battle line nmning from 
Holland to Switzerland when the fighting stopped. 
The horizontal shading shows the small area of 
French territory then in German hands. The 
perpendicular shading ia Rhenish Prussia. 



painfully anxious to abide by the rules laid down and get on the right 
side of those who now possessed the power of Hfe and death over 
them. There was no more ^'Gott strafe England.'' On December 
6th, British cavalry patrols, riding over the swing bridge, entered 
Cologne, being the first British troops to reach the Rhine. Accord- 
ing to a tale told by Phillip Gibbs, the war correspondent^ a young 



The Fall of Kings and Empires 513 

Hussar pacing the bridge over the Rhine as a guard that first day 
was spoken to by several people, one of whom said in excellent 
English: ''So you have wound up as the Watch on the Rhine!" 

British cavalry crossed the Rhine to Cologne on December 14th 
and went beyond to take possession of the bridgeheads. Lancers, 
dragoon guards and hussars in steel helmets and with them horse 
artillery passed in a procession which occupied two hours, while, 
during the whole period, the gallant old white-haired, whitc-mous- 
tached commander of the vSecond British Ai-my, General Sir 
Herbert Plumer, stood in the midst of his generals and staff officers 
with his hand at the salute. The band close by played '4Iulc 
Britannia," and then swung into one of the favorite songs of the 
army, ''It^s a Long, Long Trail." The British, after a march of 
one hundred and sixty miles, had at last arrived at that river so 
sacred to the Germans and which had seemed to our soldiers for 
several long years more difficult to reach than heaven itself. They 
occupied two thousand five hundred square miles of territory. 

Martial law was proclaimed in Cologne on December 12th. 
Among the regulations particularly disHked by the Germans v/ere 
those which forbade residents to leave their homes after 7 p. m. 
or before 6 a. m., and m.ade all males salute British officers, and 
the playing of the British National Anthem by removing their 
hats. The other regulations were such as to protect the army of 
occupation from annoyance and to keep the civilian population 
peaceable. 

THE BELGIAN ARMY 

On November 22d the gallant King of the Belgians, with 
his equally gallant Queen, rode into his capital amid intense enthusi- 
asm. It was a wonderful picture. People swarmed every^vhere; 
perched on windows, ladders, posts and house-tops, they jammed the 
route of the procession and cheered deliriously. Not a word could 
be heard either when the burgomaster read his speech of welcome 
at the Flanders gate, or when the King replied, so thunderous was 
the roar of the multitude. And when the procession passed through 
the streets brilliant with flags and other decorations the roar of 
welcome seemed to increase while flowers fell like rain about the 
royal pair and their children following on horseback. 

By December 18th the Belgians, having marched one hundred 



514 Canada's Sons in the World War 

and sixty miles, had occupied and organized their area in Rhenish 
Prussia of seven hundred square niiles. 

THE FEENCH ARMY 

The enthusiastic welcome accorded Marshal* P^tain, attended 
by Generals FayoUe and Gouraud, on November 25th upon their 
entry into Strasbourg, dispelled any doubts as to the deUght of 
Alsatians at being French once more. The joy of the people and 
their enthusiastic plaudits for the armies of Republican France 
was the reward of the French poilus and their generals. On the 
steps of the recent Imperial Palace were Petain, Castelnau, Fayolle 
and Maistre, all three commanders of army groups, while several 
hundred staff officers were at the foot of the steps and on either 
side of the march past of the chasseurs, zouaves, di'agoons, 
artillerymen, tankmen, tirailleurs, pioneers and machine-gunners. 

Alsace-Lorraine had been taken by Frenchmen once more; the 
bitter memory of 1870 had been avenged; the dream of nearly 
fifty years had been reahzed. 

By the 3d the Tenth French Army had occupied the Valley 
of the Sarre and a week later General Mangin took possession of 
the bridgehead at Mainz. 

There was no excitement, no resistance or evidence of hostile 
feeling towards the French. Every^^here the people instinctively 
made way for the uniforms, having been so drilled to consider 
the soldier superior to the civihan that they automatically paid 
the same respect to the troops of the enemy. The French came as 
victors over a hated foe and naturally expected some appearance of 
hostiHty. Instead the^^ found a submission ahnost servile of a 
people that had been beaten to the ground and instead of adopting 
the arrogant attitude, which would have been that of the Germans 
had conditions been reversed, they adopted, almost despite them- 
selves, the role of benefactor. It was a fine proof of the nobility 
of the French character as compared T\dth that of the German. 
As the Americans, British and Belgians found, there did not seem 
to be any lack of food, but there was marked evidence that the 
well-to-do had been able to obtain plenty when the poorer classes 
had been unable to do so. Restrictions which had pressed hea\aly 
upon the poor had scarcely affected the rich and were evidently 
one of the widespread causes of social discontent in Germany. 



The Fall of Kings and Empires 515 

The Second French Army, under General Hirschauer, had by- 
November 25th taken up its allotted posts along the Rhine in 
Alsace. 

THE AMERICAN ARMY 

The Third American Army began its forward march on 
November 17th, and by the 23d were almost through the Grand 
Duchy of Luxemburg. Owing to the slowness of the enemy march 
the American army was compelled to slow down and only entered 
the Prussian province on December 1st. After crossing the Sauer 
and Moselle Rivers, it spread out on a front of sixty miles and on 
December 11th the American army completed its march to the 
Rhine and estabhshed its bridgehead on December 13th in a semi- 
circle of eighteen miles diameter. There were no cheers, smiles or 
flags in Germany for these men who had come more than 3,000 
miles overseas to help destroy militarism for all time. 

CARRYING OUT THE TERMS OF THE ARMISTICE 

As we have seen, the German High Sea Fleet and the German 
submarines had been surrendered to the British Admiral Beatty. 
The aUied armies were also marching toward the Rhine to occupy 
both banks of that famous river. 

The day before Germany signed the armistice the first British 
battleship, followed by a French destroyer, had anchored in the 
Golden Horn off Constantinople. On November 9th British troops 
had taken possession of the forts of GaUipoh, so pregnant with 
memories of the fatal summer of 1915. By the end of the first 
week in December a mihtary administration under the direction 
of the British vice and rear admirals was in full running order 
in Constantinople. Two weeks later, on November 26th, an 
aUied naval squadron passed through the Black Sea and took pos- 
session of the Russian ships at Sebastopol which had been sur- 
rendered to the Germans by the Bolsheviki. 

Von Mackensen's army of 170,000 men in Rumania, while 
attempting to pass through Hungary to Germany, was interned 
on November 30th on the demand of the French authorities. 

In the ItaUan area the Austro-Hungarian authorities had 
completed the terms of the armistice in so far as evacuation of 
territory was concerned and Italy was in full possession of the 



516 Canada's Sons in the World War 

terrain to be occupied by her, pending the signing of the Peace 
Treaty and the inclusion in that of the Treaty of London. 

Though the troops of occupation made no attempt to set up 
civil governments the ItaUan population in Gorizia, Trent and 
Trieste attempted to do so. Immediate conflict with Jugo-Slavs 
took place and at Fiume and Pola an unfortunate situation devel- 
oped. Fiume was outside the territory of evacuation but had a 
predominating ItaUan population and an ItaHan municipal council. 
Armed Jugo-Slavs entered the town, forced the authorities to take 
down the Itahan flag and substitute that of the Jugo-Slavs. Italians 
celebrating the victory of theu' armies were shot and terrorized until 
the Italian General Diaz ordered Fiume to be taken and his country- 
men relieved. 

THE SURRENDER OF THE GERMAN FLEET 

When the German envoys were notified of the naval con- 
ditions of the armistice by Admiral Sir Rosslyn Wemyss, the 
Admiralty representative is said to have replied to the Germans in 
terms which adequately showed the relative conditions of the two 
fleets. 

'^It is inadmissible,'^ the Germans protested, "that our fleet 
should be given up without ha^dng been beaten." 

To which Admiral Wemyss retorted: ''It only had to come 
out!" 

The naval terms were of necessity accepted by Germany and 
a date and place arranged for the surrender of Germany's ships. 

The annals of naval warfare hold no parallel to the surrender 
of the German fleet; nothing so humiliating has ever been seen. 

On the night before the surrender the British Grand Fleet 
lay at its mooring in the Firth of the Forth. Among them was a 
French armoured cruiser and two destroyers, and five American 
dreadnoughts. All through the night the flagship was in touch 
with the German fleet steaming towards the place of rendezvous. 
At 2 A. M. the German fleet was seventy-two miles out and proceed- 
ing at a speed of twelve knots an hour. 

At 4 A. M. on November 21st, 1918, the first battle squadron, 
led by the Revenge, put to sea with the Queen Elizabeth bringing up 
the rear. One by one the black silhouettes, canopied in smoke, 
followed and at daybreak the Grand Fleet, in two long columns. 



The Fall of Kings and Empires 517 

was at sea moving towards the on-coming enemy fleet. About 
9.30 a sausage balloon, towed by the Cardiff , came into view. 

Then there emerged from the murk about three miles away 
the first of the German ships. The British fleet then wheeled by 
squadrons back on its own track on both sides of the Germans so 
as to be ready to escort them to their anchorage. 

It was the dawn of Der Tag — The Day when the German 
fleet was to meet the British. But how different from that which 
millions of Germans had visualized when they toasted Der Tag in 
heady cups of potent liquor! It was another Trafalgar — a bloodless 
one — in which a nation had her sea power completely annihilated 
without having fired a shot. 

Forty-seven allied battleships and battle cruisers, thirty-five 
cruisers and two hundred destroyers, with one hundred thousand 
personnel, waited to receive the capitulation of thirteen German 
battleships and battle cruisers, six cruisers and forty-nine destroyers, 
manned by seventeen thousand ofiicers and men. 

First the great German battle cruisers, headed by the Seydlitz, 
and followed by the Moltkej Hindenhurg, Derflinger and Von der 
Tann passed down the som^ber lines of the allied fleets. The 
German ships, led by the little cruiser Cardiff j and with a British 
naval airship flying overhead, slipped by with their guns trained 
fore and aft according to Admiral Beatty's orders. The battle 
stations on the British vessels were manned with gun crews, a sad 
reflection upon the German reputation for honour. No chances 
were being taken. 

Behind these came the German dreadnoughts, cruisers and 
destroyers, escorted and completely covered by British destroyers. 
Flotilla after flotilla, stretching away into the haze out of sight, 
moved forward towards the anchorage appointed for the German 
ships at May Island in the Firth of Forth, guarded by the British 
Grand Fleet. The low mist obscured and blurred the ships and 
robbed the pageant of some of its splendour yet it seemed pecuharly 
fitting that the surrender should have taken place under the typical 
weather conditions of the North Sea endured by the British seamen 
for four long years. 

As the German ships came to anchor they were surrounded 
by their British warders while the main body of the Grand Fleet 
made its way back to the stations from which it had started. 



518 Canada's Sons in the World War 

There had never been a naval surrender in history like it. 
Under similar circumstances the fleets of France, Russia and 
Spain had come out and with the prospect of certain doom fought 
their ships to the end and gone down fighting. This was a day of 
hmnihation even to the British and American sailors and there was 
Httle rejoicing at the ignominious end of a fleet and a profession 
similar to their own. Every sailor felt compromised by the humiH- 
ating action of the parvenu fleet which two years before had put 
up only a haK-hearted fight and then fled to the shelter of its har- 
boiu-s, where it had remained till the day it yielded. Had the 
ships been scuttled or blown up oiu* sailors would have felt some 
admiration for the pride that was responsible for such action. 
But there were no sea traditions in the German navy. The German 
as always was logical and probably agreed that it was no use to be 
fooHsh and fight a losing battle or destroy the ships because it 
wouldn't help them. Therefore he chose to give them up. 

An hoiu" before noon Admiral Beatty signalled to the fleet: 
'^The German flag will be hauled down at sunset to-day. It wiU 
not be hoisted again without permission." AU the while the 
German flags were flying on the main-tops of the seventy-one 
German vessels lying at anchor. On the Queen Elizabeth the men 
assembled aft at 4 o'clock thinking they would hear a speech from 
the comjnander-in-chief. Suddenly the bugle rang out ^ ^making 
sunset" and the crew, instantly turning, saluted the British flag, 
following this with deafening cheers for Admiral Beatty who 
acknowledged the tribute with the words: '^ Thank you. I always 
told you they would have to come out." 

Then the German flag on the seventy-one German ships was 
hauled down. 

On the first of December, the day after the Sixth American 
Battle Squadron w^as detached from the Grand Fleet, Admiral 
Beatty made a notable address of farewell on board the American 
battleship New York. 

After thanking the American officers and men for their co- 
operation, Sir David remarked that both the British and Americans 
were disappointed at not having been able to meet the German 
fleet. He declared that the day the German fleet surrendered 
was a "pitiful day to see." He said he had alwaj^s had misgivings 
that the Germans would never com.e out for a finish fight, and 



The Fall of Kings and Empires 519 

these misgivings had been strengthened by the coming of the 
American squadron. 

'^I could not let the Sixth Battle Squadron go without coming 
on board the New York and saying something of what I feel at 
this moment of yoiu* departure," said Sir David. 

'^What I say, I hope you will understand comes from the 
heart, not only my heart, but the hearts of your comrades of the 
Grand Fleet. . . . This support which you have shown is that 
of true comradeship, and in time of stress that is worth a very 
great deal. ... I do not want to keep you here any longer, 
but want to congratulate you for having been present upon a day 
unsurpassed in the naval annals of the world. 

''I know quite well that you, as well as your British comrades, 
were bitterly disappointed at not being able to give effect to that 
efficiency you have so well maintained. It was a most disap- 
pointing day. It was a pitiful day to see those great ships coming 
in like sheep being herded by dogs to their fold, without an effort 
on anybody's part, but it was a day everybody could be proud of. 

'^However, the disappointment that the Grand Fleet was 
unable to strike their blow for the freedom of the world is counter- 
acted by the fact that it was their prestige alone that brought 
about this achievement. 

^'During the last twelve months you have been with us, we 
have learned to know each other very well. We have learned to 
respect each other. I want you to take back a message to the 
Atlantic fleet that you have left a very warm place in the hearts of 
the Grand Fleet which cannot be filled imtil you come back or 
send another squadron to represent you. 

'^I understand that you are now going to Portland, where 
you are to get leave. There is a duty to perform in bringing your 
President to these waters, and then you will return to your own 
shores. And I hope that in the sunshine which. Admiral Rodman 
tells me, always shines there, you will not forget your 'comrades 
of the mist' and your pleasant associations of the North Sea. 

'^I thank you again and again for the great part the Sixth 
Battle Squadron has played in bringing about the greatest naval 
victory in history. I hope you will give this message to your 
comrades: 'Come back soon.' 

"Good-bye, and good luck!" 



520 Canada's Sons in the World War 

The surrender of the one hundred and twenty-nine German sub- 
marines was made to Commodore Sir Reginald Yorke Tyrwhitt at 
Harwich, beginning two days later. The U-boats arrived in batches 
of about twenty-five at a time. The actual business of accepting 
the submarines was carried out by officers and men of the British 
submarine service. 

Among the first twenty-six U-boats surrendered was the U-135, 
a boat completed only three months before. She was two hundred 
and seventy-six feet long and had never been to sea until she came 
across the Channel to surrender. Among the last to be surrendered 
was U-153, conmaonly known as the Deutschland, so well known 
for her trip to America before the United States entered the war. 

THE FALL OF KINGS AND EMPERORS 

As the war drew to a close autocracies and bureaucracies, 
thi'ones and dynasties began to crumble. The first to go was, 
natuially, that of Russia. In 1906 the Duma had been formed. 
Up to that time the Russian bureaucracy had exercised absolute 
authority — in the name of the Czar. The Russian revolution, which 
had been aimed at this extraordinary organization rather than at 
the Czar himself, had formed Russia out of chaos. For the first 
time the countless millions of Jews, Armenians, Russians, Poles, 
Tartars, Calmuchs, Circassians, Letts, Georgians and Esthonians 
found an articulate national voice. 

Ground down by the aristocracy, the Church and the bureau- 
cracy with its gigantic organization of police, spies and soldiery, 
the Russian peasantry was the most misera.ble people on earth. 
The upper Russian classes were perhaps the best educated in 
Europe; the lower were the most ignorant and brutahzed. Thou- 
sands of the educated, seeing what a terrible condition Russia was 
in, became ardent socialists and anarchists. In spite of all that 
the poHce could do revolutionary propaganda was broadcasted 
throughout the country so that the Russians become the most 
expert propagandists in the world. 

The Poles wanted Home Rule; the Jews demanded equality; 
each race had its own needs, but one and all demanded freedom. 
Surcharged with hate, fearful hope and reckless idealism, Russia 
longed for the reforms that would enable men to be free, to obtain 
justice, to live happily, To these millions hungering and thirsting 



The Fall of Kings and Empires 521 

for a new and righteous system of Government the Czar granted a 
means of expression in the Duma. But before the Duma met he 
promulgated what were called the Fundamental Laws of the 
Empire. It was not a constitution; it was not a charter. It was 
a declaration of what the CroTMi would keep and what it would 
yield. 

In the Duma the people were given a voice but no power; 
the Czar and the Russian bureaucracy still remained omnipotent. 
It was Httle wonder then that the Russian people, when their 
opportunity came, and the soldiery in barracks, saturated with 
socialistic propaganda, refused to longer serve the bureaucratic 
element and fire upon the people, rose in red rebelHon. Czar 
Nicholas, the House of Romanoff and the dynasty disappeared in 
the ruin and the first of the King row had fallen. 

The story of the fall of the House of Hohenzollem would fill 
a volume. It is a far cry from the dream of world conquest, and, 
in shining helmet and imperial uniform, dictating terms of peace 
in the hall of Versailles, to the little house at Amerongen, Holland. 
Fearful of his own life, William, late Emperor of Germany, signed 
his abdication and fled across the border to await the judgment of 
the Allied Conference. His son, the late Crown Prince, the one 
time prince of swashbucklers, shorn of all reputation for ability 
or brains by his record during the war, had also fled to a modest 
exile at Wieringen. 

Emperor Charles of Austria-Hungary abdicated and passed 
over into Switzerland, thereby bringing to an end the tragic house of 
the Hapsburgs. 

At Zurich, in Switzerland, Constantine, the late King of 
Greece, found opportunity for reflection upon the folly of trying 
to steer Greece through the middle course of neutrality. 

"Somewhere in Austria,'^ Ferdinand, sumamed "The Fox,'^ and 
one time King of Bulgaria, lived an unostentatious existence, after 
trying in vain to steer his ship of state before every favourable wind 
and yet avoid disaster. 

Nicholas, formerly King of Montenegro, sojourned sadly in 
France without hope of again occupying the throne. 

Louis, the erstwhile King of Bavaria, and Prince Rupprecht 
of Bavaria, succeeded in successfully leaving their country and 
obtaining an exile in Switzerland. 



CHAPTER XXXV 
Canada's Ofl&cial War Record* 

In the early months of 1914 Canada, for practical purposes, 
had no army. There was a permanent force of about 3,000 men, 
with no reserve; its purpose was partly to provide garrisons 
for our few fortresses, and partly to train the militia. The latter 
was a hghtly trained force, rather well organized for a defensive 
war on its own soil. The number trained in 1913 was about 60,000. 

In the late summer and early autumn of 1914, the First Cana- 
dian division of 33,000 men was raised and sent across the Atlantic. 
It left Gasp6 Bay on October 3d and, after nearly three months 
of additional training in England, landed in France, at Ste. Nazaire, 
on February 11, 1915. The Second division was formed imme- 
diately and landed in France on September 14th, when the 
Canadian Army Corps was formed. The formation of the Third 
division was authorized just before Christmas, 1915, and the 
division was in France early in 1916. The Fourth division joined 
the Canadian Corps in the middle of August, 1916. The Canadian 
cavalry brigade appeared in France in 1915. 

The total number of men enlisted in Canada from the begin- 
ning of the war to November 15, 1918, was 595,441. 

Obtained by voluntary enlistment 465,984 

Drafted or reporting voluntarily after the Military Service Act 

came into force 83,355 

Granted leave or discharge 24,933 

Overseas Service other than C. E. F. : 

Royal air force 12,902 

Imperial motor transport 710 

Inland water transport 4,701 

Naval service 2,814 

Jewish Palestine draft 42 

21,169 



595,441 

* Condensed account of Canada's part in the Great War, issued by the Department of Public Information, 
Ottawa, January, 1919. 

( 522 ) 



Canada's Official War Record 523 

The distribution of these men was as follows: 

C. E. F. proceeded overseas 418,052 

Enlisted for Royal air force, etc 21,169 

On the strength of C. E. F. in Canada and St. Lucia, including 
those under training as overseas re-enforcements, Siberian 
Expeditionary Force, Canadian garrison regiment, military 

police, medical and administrative services, etc 36,533 

On harvest leave without pay 15,405 

Granted leave of absence without pay as compassionate and hard- 
ship cases 7,216 

Number discharged in Canada who had not proceeded overseas 
for the following among other reasons, as below medical 
standard, absentees, aliens, to accept conamissions, deaths, 

or transfer to British army and Royal air force 95,306 

Included in enhstment returns, for whom discharge documents 
have not been received, or in some cases duplicate enHstments. 
This number is being adjusted as further records are received. 1,760 



595,441 

In addition to the above, 14,590 British and allied reservists 
went from Canada to rejoin the colours in their own countries. 

The movement overseas by years was as follows: 

Before December 31, 1914 30,999 

Calender year 1915 84,334 

Calendar year 1916 165,553 

Calendar year 1917 63,536 

January 1 to November 15, 1918 73,630 

On September 30, 1918, about 160,000 men were in France 
and about 116,000 men in England. 

The total casualties sustained by the Canadian Expeditionary 
Force, and reported up to January 15, 1919, were 218,433. 

Officers. 

Killed in action 1,844 

Died of wounds 614 

Died of disease 227 

Wounded 7,133 

Prisoners of war . 

Presumed dead 142 

Missing 37 

Deaths in Canada 

Total 218,433 

Before December 31, 1915 14,500 



Other Ranks. 


Total 


33,840 


35,684 


11,823 


12,437 


3,830 


4,057 


148,706 


155,839 




3,049 


4,540 


4,682 


361 


398 


.... 


2,287 



524 Canada's Sons in the World War 

By periods the casualties were (in approximate figures) : 

Calendar year 1916 56,500 

Calendar year 1917 74,500 

Calendar year 1918 73,000 

HONOURS TO CANADIAN SOLDIERS 

The following are the honours granted to members of the 
Canadian Expeditionary Force up to December 20, 1918: 

Victoria Cross 53 

Distinguished Ser^dce Order 513 

First Bar to Distinguished Service Order 41 

Second Bar to Distinguished Service Order 6 

MiHtary Cross 1,882 

Bar to MiHtary Cross 99 

Distinguished Conduct Medal 1,186 

Bar to Distinguished Conduct Medal 16 

Mihtary Medal 6,697 

First Bar to MiHtary Medal 271 

Second Bar to MiHtary Medal 10 

Meritorious Service Medal 430 

Mentioned in Despatches 3,333 

Royal Red Cross 192 

Other British Honours 226 

Foreign Decorations — 

French, 410; Belgian, 7. 
Serbian, 7; ItaHan, 28. 
Montenegrin, 8; Russian, 159. 

THE CANADIAN FORCE AT THE FRONT 

The distribution of the Canadian troops in France and Belgium 
on September 30, 1918, was as follows: 

The Canadian Army Corps, forming part of the first British 
army, consisted of four divisions and corps troops. Each division 
consisted of three infantry brigades, each of which was made up 
of four battalions of infantry and one trench mortar battery, and 
the following divisional troops: Ai'tillery — two brigades, two 
medium and one hea\'y trench mortar batteries, and a divisional 
ammunition column; one battalion of the machine gun corps; 
Engineers — three engineer battalions, one pontoon bridging trans- 
port unit, and one divisional emplojrment company; divisional 
train of four companies; Medical Services — thi'ee field ambulances, 
one sanitary section and one mobile veterinary section; divisional 



Canada's Official War Record 525 

signals of four sections, one at divisional headquarters and one with 
each brigade. 

The corps troops were as follows: 

Corps Artillery — Three brigades of garrison artillery containing 
twelve siege batteries and two heavy batteries, one anti-aircraft 
battery of five sections, three brigades of field artillery, two me- 
dium and one heavy trench mortar batteries, one divisional artillery 
ammunition column and tvv^o motor machine gun brigades. 

Corps Engineers — Pontoon bridging imit, five army troop com- 
panies, an anti-aircraft searchhght company and corps survey 
section, two tramway companies. 

Corps Medical Services — One field ambulance, one sanitary 
section, the dental laboratory and the veterinary evacuating station. 

Corps Signaling Services — The corps signal company, two 
motor air line sections, four cable sections, four brigade signal sub- 
sections and one C. D. A. brigade detachment. 

Army Service Corps — Pleadquarters mechanical transport 
column, seven mechanical transport companies, one divisional 
artillery mechanical transport detachment, one artillery brigade 
section and one divisional train detachment. 

Ordnance Services — Three ordnance mobile workshops. 

Miscellaneous — Infantry school, machine gun school, Lewis 
gun school, signal school, gas service school, instructors' pool, 
gymnastic staff, Canadian records hst, Y. M. C. A. services, corps 
military police and two railhead army postoffices. 

Labour Services — Labour group headquarters, four labour com- 
panies, a pontoon bridging officers' estabUshment and five Cana- 
dian area employment companies. 

Each division contained 19,000 to 20,000 troops, and there 
were about 10,000 corps troops, making about 90,000 men in the 
corps. 

The Canadian cavalry brigade formed part of the Third British 
cavalry division belonging to the third army and consisted of three 
cavalry regiments, a machine gun squadron, the royal Canadian 
horse artillery, a signal troop, a field ambulance and a mobile 
veterinary section. There were about 3,000 men in the brigade, 
which vfas part of the third army. 

The following Canadian units, separate from the Canadian 
Corps, were attached to the five British armies: 



526 Canada's Sons in the World War 

First Army — Two casualty clearing stations, one sanitary 
section, one railroad supply detachment and two battalions of rail- 
way troops. 

Second Army — One casualty clearing station, one advance 
depot medical stores, two battalions of railway troops, two auxiliary 
horse transport companies, one field butchery, two depot units of 
supply, a railliead supply detachment and a tunneling company. 

Third Aimy — One casualty clearing station, one railhead supply 
detachment, thi-ee battahons of railway troops and the overseas 
railway construction corps. 

Fom'th Army — One medical corps mobile laboratory, four 
battalions of railway troops, one light railway operating company 
and one broad-gauge operating company. 

Fifth Arm}" — One battahon of railway troops. 

On the line of communications and attached to British general 
headquarters were the following: Thirteen depot units of supply, 
four field bakeries and two field butcheries, which were distributed 
at Boulogne, Calais and Dieppe; six gener-al hospitals and six sta- 
tionary hospitals, which were at eight different places ;1 the general 
base depot, the infantry base depot, the machine-gun base depot, 
the labour pool, the report centre, the command pay office, the 
dental store, two field auxihary postoffices, the base postoffice, one 
veterinary hospital, one battahon of railway troops, one wagon 
erecting company and one engine crew company. 

The following troops of the Canadian forestry corps were dis- 
tributed at eleven places in France : Sixty-three forestry companies, 
five district workshops, one construction company, one technical 
warehouse, one forestry hospital and two detention hospitals. 

There were altogether about 160,000 Canadians serving in 
France on September 30, 1918. 

The Canadian Army Corps is commanded by Lieutenant- 
General Sir Arthur Currie, with the following di\'isional com- 
manders: First division, IMajor-General A. C. MacDonell; Second 
division, IMajor-General Sir H. E. Burstall; Third division, Major- 
General F. 0. W. Loomis; Fourth division, JMajor-General Sir 
D. Watson. 

OPERATIONS 

The following summary gives only the more notable engage- 
ments in which the Canadian troops fought. In 1915 the First 



Canada's Official War Record 527 

division greatly distinguished itself in the second battle of Ypres, 
on April 22d, and again at Festubert and Givenchy, in May and 
June. In 1916 the Canadians, now forming three divisions, were 
very heavily engaged at St. Eloi in April, and at Sanctuary Wood 
and Hooge in June. In September, October and November the four 
Canadian divisions fought in the battle of the Somme, especially 
distinguishing themselves at Courcelette, Mouquet Farm, and the 
Kenora, Regina and Desire trenches. 

In 1917, the Canadian troops bore the largest part in the 
taking of Vimy Ridge (April 9th) and of Arleux and Fresnoy (April 
28th and May 3d), and fought with great success in the advance on 
Lens and the taking of Hill 70 in August. They were again heavily 
engaged in the fighting round Passchendaele in October and No- 
vember, capturing all their objectives in spite of severe losses. 

In 1918 the Canadian cavalry, motor machine guns and rail- 
way troops were active in the resistance to the German advance in 
March. The Canadian Corps was in the centre of the British front 
in the second battle of Amiens, August 8-17th, advancing 14,000 
yards on the first day, the deepest advance made in one day during 
the war. In the battle of Arras, at the beginning of September, 
the Canadians played an important part in the breaking of the 
Queant-Drocourt line, a part of the Hindenburg system. The 
Canadian casualties in these two actions were serious but less than 
the number of prisoners taken. 

The battle of Cambrai began on September 27th, and on 
October 9th the Canadians, after heavy losses, took Cambrai and 
made large captures of men and material. In the final stage of the 
fighting Denain was taken by the Canadians on October 20th, 
Valenciennes on November 2d and Mons at 4 a. m. on November 
11th, on which day the armistice came into force, at 11 a. m. 

The Canadian troops captured 45,000 prisoners, 850 artillery 
guns and 4,200 machine guns, recaptured 130 towns and villages, 
and liberated 310,000 French and Belgian civilians. 

Canadian imits also served in Palestine, Macedonia and 
Russia. 

THE CAVALRY BRIGADE 

The Canadian cavalry fought, for the most part, separately 
from the Canadian Army Corps. They distinguished themselves in 



528 Canada's Sons in the World War 

March, 1917, by the capture of six villages in two days, and in 
December gave valuable help in the attack on Villers-Cuislains. 
In the German offensive of March and April, 1918, the Canadian 
cavalry brigade was actively engaged and suffered heavy casualties 
at Bois Moreuil, Rifle Wood and elsewhere. The brigade fought 
as part of the Canadian Corps in the second battle of Amiens and, 
in the great advance at the end of the fighting, captured the town 
of Le Cateau on October 9th. 

Canadian railway units were attached to all the British armies. 
Canadian railway troops were responsible for the whole of the con- 
struction of Hght railways and of sixty per cent of the standard- 
gauge railways in the area occupied by the British forces. 

In addition to the units of the Canadian forestry corps ser\dng 
in France and mentioned above, a large mmaber of Canadians were 
engaged in Great Britain in cutting down and milling timber. 

AEMY MEDICAL CORPS 

During the war 1,617 medical oflacers, 2,002 nursing sisters and 
12,382 other ranks of the Canadian army medical corps went over- 
seas from Canada. There were in Canada at the end of the war 
913 medical officers, 527 nursing sisters, 182 V. A. D. nurses, and 
4,012 other ranks. 

The medical corps maintained in France 6 general hospitals, 
6 stationary hospitals, 6 casualty clearing stations and 13 field 
ambulances, and in England 9 active treatment hospitals, 5 special 
hospitals, 5 convalescent hospitals and a special sanatorium. In 
Canada there are 65 military hospitals with 11,786 beds. 

Some 22,300 patients were brought back to Canada in 1917 
and 1918 on 35 passages of hospital ships. On 27 of these passages 
the C. A. M. C. provided the staffs of the ships. The Llandovery 
Castle was sunk by a submarine while returning to England. 

About 12,000 troops have been required in Canada for home 
defence — as garrisons for fortresses and guards for internment 
camps, canals, etc. Canada has also furnished a garrison for the 
important military post of St. Lucia, in the West Indies. 

IMPERIAL SERVICES 

Twelve thousand nine hundred and two Canadians have joined 
the Royal air force and its predecessors the Royal naval air service 



Canada's Official War Record 529 

and the Royal flying corps. In addition, a number of Americans 
have been trained in Canada by the instructional staff of the Royal 
air force. 

Some 4,701 men have been furnished from Canada for the 
imperial service known as the inland waterways and docks. About 
710 Canadians have joined the imperial motor transport service, 
and several hundred Canadians, mostly from the universities, have 
received commissions in the British army. Canada has also fin*- 
nished several hundred doctors and veterinarians, and about two 
hundred nurses to the British army. 

Some two hundred Canadian officers have been lent, as in- 
structors, to the United States. 

Several thousands of Poles, Serbians and Montenegrins have 
been enhsted in Canada for service with their own countrymen. 

Military Service Act. — Until the winter of 1917-18 the Canadian 
Expeditionary Force was recruited by voluntary enhstment. Dur- 
ing the winter the Military Service Act came into operation, and 
after this time 83,355 recruits were obtained for the force. These 
were partly men who were drafted and partly men, in the classes 
called out, who reported volimtarily. 

The enforcement of the act was put in the hands of a special 
force of Dominion poHce, which later became the Canadian Military 
Police Corps. This body was assisted, in certain districts, by the 
Royal Northwest Mounted Police. 

The number of cases investigated was 269,121, but as the men 
concerned moved from one place to another, it often occurred that 
one man was the subject of several investigations. Among these 
were: 18,824 defaulters, who failed to register; 9,454 absentees, 
who failed to report when ordered; and 2,304 deserters. 

Royal Military College. — The Royal MiUtary College has a 
very distinguished record in comiection with the war. Of the 
914 graduates and ex-cadets who have served, 353 were granted 
commissions direct from the college, and 43 enlisted with a view 
to obtaining commissions; 138 ex-cadets have been reported as 
killed in action, dead of wounds, or missing. 

Ex-cadets of the college have won the following honours and 
decorations: 1 Victoria Cross, 106 Distinguished Service Orders, 
109 Military Crosses, 2 Distinguished Flying Crosses, 62 other 
British decorations, 42 foreign decorations. 



530 Canada's Sons in the World War 

Three Canadian and one Australian division have been 
commanded by graduates of the college. The graduates who have 
served in the war include one heutenant-general, eight major- 
generals, and twenty-six brigadier-generals. The college has had 
between 1,300 and 1,400 cadets on its rolls since its foundation. 

THE NAVAL SERVICE 

Cruisers. — At the outbreak of war in 1914 the Canadian 
Government possessed only two naval vessels, the NiohCy a cruiser 
of 11,000 tons displacement, with a main armament of sixteen 
6-inch guns, stationed at Halifax, and the Rainbow, a small cruiser 
of 3,600 tons displacement, armed with two 6-inch, six 4.7-inch 
and four 12-pounder guns, stationed at Esquimalt, on the Pacific. 
The RainhoWy which was ready for sea, patrolled, with other ships 
on the Pacific station, as far south as Panama, and captured several 
ships carrying contraband of war. After the entry of the United 
States into the war, she became depot ship on the Pacific Coast. 
The Nidbe was made ready for sea in September, 1914, and re- 
mained in commission one year, during which she steamed over 
30,000 miles on patrol duty. She afterwards became depot ship 
at Halifax. 

Smaller Vessels. — ^At the beginning of hostihties, various small 
craft were taken over by the Naval Department from the Depart- 
ments of Marine and of Customs, and were armed and manned 
from the R. C. N. V. R. for the performance of patrol duties off 
the Atlantic Coast. Two submarines, which were bought just 
before the declaration of war, patrolled the approaches to Victoria 
and Vancouver and helped in keeping Admiral von Speeds squadron 
away from the Pacific ports. H. M. sloop Shearwater was taken 
into the Canadian service as mother ship to these submarines 
and, in the summer of 1917, these three vessels went, by way of 
Panama Canal, to Halifax. 

Trawlers and Drifters. — -A patrol and mine-sweeping service 
has been carried on since the outbreak of war. Early in 1917 the 
Department of Naval Service undertook to have sixty trawlers 
and one hundred drifters built in Canada for the Imperial Govern- 
ment. These vessels were built at various places on the St. Lawrence 
and the Great Lakes; many of them were in service in Canadian 
and European waters in the year 1917, and all were in service in 1918. 



Canada^s Official War Record 531 

The area patrolled under the department stretched from the 
Straits of Belle Isle to the Bay of Fundy, and from Quebec to 
east of the Virgm Rocks. Within this area the department had 
control of patrols, convoys, mine-sweeping, the protection of 
fishing fleets, etc. Only one large vessel was lost by enemy attack 
in this area. 

At the date of the armistice the vessels in the Canadian Naval 
Service were as follows: 

On the Pacific. — H. M. C. S. Rainbow, depot and training 
ship; H. M. S. Algerine, sloop; auxiliary patrol ship Malaspina; 
several motor launches for harbour defence. 

On the Atlantic. — H. M. C. S. Niobe, depot and training ship; 
H. M. C. S. Shearwater, submarine depot ship, and two submarines; 
H. M. C. S. Grilse, torpedo-boat destroyer; nine auxiliary patrol 
ships, forty-seven armed trawlers, fifty-eight aimed drifters, eleven 
armed mine-sweepers and tugs, and a large flotilla of motor launches. 

Personnel. — The crews of these vessels consisted of men from 
all parts of Canada, principally members of the Royal Canadian 
Naval Volunteer Reserve. At the date of the armistice the per- 
sonnel of the service was : 

Officers and men of the P^^oyal Canadian Navy, 749. 

Officers and men of the Royal Canadian Naval Volimteer 
Reserve, 4,374. 

Naval College. — Canada is fortunate in the possession of a 
small but excellent naval college. Mare than fifty oflEicers who 
passed out of the college as cadets are serving in either the Imperial 
or Canadian navy. Many of them have gained distinction, and 
four lost their fives in the battle of Coronel. 

Canadians in the Imperial Naval Farces. — In addition to the 
men serving on Canadian vessels, over 1,700 men have been 
recruited in Canada for the Imperial navy, and are on service in 
European waters; seventy-three surgeon probationers and a 
nimaber of hydrographic survey officers have been sent from 
Canada, and 580 Canadians were enrolled as probationary flight 
fieutenants in the Royal Naval Air Service, before recruiting for 
the Royal air force began in Canada. More than five hundred 
Canadians holding commissions in the Royal Naval Volunteer 
Reserve are in British Auxifiary Patrol and similar services. 

Naval Air Service. — The Royal Canadian Naval Air Service 



532 Canada's Sons in the World War 

was established in the summer of 1918, with stations at HaUfax 
and North Sydney. It has co-operated with the United States 
Naval Aviation Corps in patrolling the coast and escorting convoys 
through the danger zone. 

Wireless Service, — The Canadian Radiotelegraph Service con- 
trols about two hundred stations ashore and afloat. Several new 
stations have been erected or taken over by the Department of 
Naval Service and there is now an unbroken chain of radio com- 
munication from St. John's, Newfoundland, to Demerara. The 
department opened a training school for wireless operators, from 
which about two hundred men have been sent out for service in 
all parts of the world. 

Dockyards. — Important refitting, repairing, and supply work 
has been done by the Canadian dockyards. Large refits of Imperial 
and other ships were made at Esquimalt, including H. M. S. Kent, 
after the battle of the Falkland Islands, and the Japanese battle- 
ship Asamay after grounding on the coast of lower Cahfornia. 
Several large cruisers were refitted at HaHfax and Montreal. Other 
work . included the defensive armament of merchant ships, the 
refitting of transports for troops, horses, and special cargo, and 
the loading and securing on ships' decks of six hundred launches, 
tugs, etc., of large size. 

The Halifax dockyard was seriously damaged by the explosion 
in the harbour on December 6, 1917, but immediate steps were 
taken to enable the services of the yard to be carried on. 

Stores. — The Canadian Naval Service provided supplies for 
the ships of the Royal Canadian Navy and for a number of Im- 
perial and alhed ships in Canadian waters, as well as many of the 
requirements of H. M. dockyards at Bermuda and Hong Kong. 
Large supplies were shipped from HaHfax dockyard for provision- 
ing the fleets in European waters. A large coaling depot was estab- 
hshed at Sydney for the use of patrolHng vessels and of all convoys 
leaving the St. Lawrence. 

The growth of the naval service since the outbreak of war is 
shown by the increase in the quantities of stores purchased in 
the last three fiscal years: 

1915-16 S2,500,000 

1916-17 7,500,000 

1917-18 10,000,000 



Canada's Official War Record 533 

Overseas Transport. — By arrangement with the Admiralty 
and the British Ministry of Shipping, the Director of Overseas 
Transport appointed by the Canadian Government controlled 
the inland traffic, by rail or otherwise, in food supplies and muni- 
tions for transport overseas, the reception and storage at ports cf 
shipment, the allocation of cargo and its stowage on board the 
ships. 

The average monthly export was: in 1915, 50,000 tons; in 
1916, 170,000 tons; in 1917, 331,000 tons; and in 1918 (to Decem- 
ber 1), 387,000 tons. From January 1, 1915, to December 1, 1918, 
over 11,250,000 tons of freight were shipped. 

SHIPBUILDING 

There were 103 steel and wooden ships with a total tonnage 
of 367,367, built in Canada during the war. 

A large Government shipbuilding programme is being carried 
out by the Department of Marine. Contracts have been author- 
ized for 39 ships of 3,400 to 10,500 tons, having a total deadweight 
tonnage of 233,350. These ships are being, or to be, built at ten 
different Canadian shipyards. 

The Department of Naval Service has had the following 
vessels built for various governments during the war: 

For the Imperial Government. — Twelve submarines, 60 armed 
trawlers, 100 armed drifters, 550 coastal patrol motor boats, and 
24 steel lighters for use in Mesopotamia. 

For the French Government. — Six armed trawlers and 36 
coastal patrol motor boats. 

For the Italian Government. — Six submarines. 

For the Russian Government. — One large armed ice-breaker 
and some submarines. 

FINANCE 

Government Loans, — The Canadian Government, since the 
commencement of the war, has issued domestic loans as follows: 

Amount of Number of 

Loan Subscribers 

1. 1915-1925, 5 per cent $100,000,000 24,862 

2. 1916-1931, 5 per cent 100,000,000 34,526 

3. 1917-1937, 5 per cent 139,000,000 41,000 

4. 1917-1937 (Victory Loan), b^i per cent 398,000,000 820,035 

5. 1918 (Second Victory Loan), 5}^ per cent. . . 660,000,000 1,067,879 



534 Canada's Sons in the World War 

In addition, War Savings Certificates to the amount of ap- 
proximately $12,500,000, as well as a considerable amount of 
debenture stock, have been sold, bringing the Government's bor- 
rowings from the people of Canada since the beginning of the war 
to the total sum of $1,436,000,000, or in other words, $192 per 
capita of the population of the Dominion. 

Advances Between the Dominion Government and Great Britain, — 
Since the outbreak of war to November 30, 1918, Canada has es- 
tabhshed credits on behaK of the Imperial Government to the 
amount of $709,000,000. Through these advances Great Britain 
was able to finance the purchase of foodstuffs, hay and other 
commodities and to carry on the operations of the Imperial Muni- 
tions Board in Canada. 

In addition to the above, Canadian chartered banks have 
advanced to the Imperial Government through the medium of 
the Minister of Finance the sum of $200,000,000 for the purchase of 
munitions and wheat. This was made possible by the large savings 
deposits in Canadian banks, which from August, 1914, to October 
31, 1918, despite the withdrawals for subscription to war loans, 
increased by $417,115,476. 

On the other hand. Great Britain has made advances to the 
Dominion totalling $609,000,000. These credits were chiefly for 
the maintenance of the Canadian troops overseas. 

Up to November 30, 1918, the total outlay for the war was 
approximately $1,068,606,527. This amount includes all expendi- 
tures in Canada, Great Britain and France, and is also inclusive 
of the upkeep of the troops overseas. The interest and pension 
payments attributable to the war amount for the entire war period 
to approximately $76,000,000. These have been provided from the 
ConsoHdated Revenue Fund. 

Net Debt. — The net debt of Canada, which before the war 
stood at about $336,000,000, has now passed the billion-dollar 
mark, and on November 30, 1918, amounted to $1,307,429,661. 
The increase is almost entirely attributable to war expenditures. 

WAB TAXATION 

Tax on Luxuries. — Taxation on luxuries has been gradually 
introduced since the beginning of the war as it was justified by 
the financial condition of the country. Increased customs duties 



Canada's Official War Record 535 

and higher rates of excise on certain commodities, including liquors 
and tobacco, imposed soon after the commencement of the war, 
were followed in 1915 by a war tax on transportation tickets, 
telegrams, money orders, cheques, letters, patent medicines, etc. 
In 1915 an increase of 73^2 P^r cent ad valorem to the general 
tariff and 5 per cent ad valorem to the British preferential tariff 
was made on all commodities with the exception of certain food- 
stuffs, coal, harvesting machinery, fisheries equipment, etc. 

Increase of Customs Duties. — In 1918 a special customs duty 
was imposed on tea and coffee and the excise on tobacco was in- 
creased. In addition, various other taxes were imposed or increased, 
and a special war excise tax was imposed on various articles, includ- 
ing automobiles, jewelry, etc. 

Business Profits Tax. — ^Under the Business Profits War Tax 
Act, as at present amended, the Government, in the case of all 
businesses having a capital of $50,000 and over, takes 25 per cent 
of the net profits over 7 per cent and not exceeding 15 per cent, 
50 per cent of the profits over 15 per cent and not exceeding 20 
per cent, and 75 per cent of the profits beyond 20 per cent. In 
the case of businesses having a capital of $25,000 and under $50,000 
the Government takes 25 per cent of all profits in excess of 10 
per cent on the capital employed. Companies employing capital 
of less than $25,000 are exempted, with the exception of those 
dealing in mmiitions or war supphes. 

Income Tax. — The Canadian income tax, vfhich came into 
effect in the year 1918-19, is in many respects higher than that 
in force in the United States. The scale provides for the exemption 
of incomes, in the case of immarried persons with an income of 
$1,000 and under, and in the case of married persons with an 
income of $2,000 and under. There is also provision for the exemp- 
tion of $200 for each child. 

Proceeds of Taxation ^ 1917-18. — During the last fiscal year the 
Dominion Government collected by way of war taxation $76,073,000. 

WAR SAVINGS AND THRIFT STAIUPS 

The issue of $50,000,000 worth of War Savings Stamps was 
begun in the latter part of 1918, with the object of encouraging 
thrift and saving among the people of Canada. For a War Sav- 
ings Stamp, the cost of which at the end of 1918 or the beginning 



536 Canada^s Sons in the World War 

of 1919 was $4, the Government will pay $5 in 1924. Thrift stamps, 
which cost 25 cents each, are a means of buying War Savings 
Stamps on the instahnent plan. 

GOLD SHIPMENTS 

Reference should be made to the fact that since the outbreak 
of the war quantities of gold coin and gold bullion to the value of 
$1,300,000,000 have been received at Ottawa by the Department 
of Finance as trustee for the Imperial Government and the Bank 
of England. The heavy demand on the gold refinery at the Royal 
Mint, Ottawa, led to the construction (in eight weeks) of a second 
plant Tvdth a monthly output of a million ounces of fine gold. 
Through this extension this refinery has developed the largest 
capacity of any gold refinery in the world. 

In addition to the above operations, certain parts for gun- 
sights were produced at the Royal Mint, Ottawa, for the Imperial 
Government. They consisted chiefly of eye-piece cells, and the 
total production up to December 20, 1918, of this equipment 
amounted to 31,587 parts. 

MUNITIONS 

The following figures give some idea of what Canada has 
accompHshed in the production of munitions of war: 

VALUE OF MUNITIONS AND MATERIALS EXPORTED FROM CANADA 

1914 to December 31 $28,164 

1915 " 57,213,688 

1916 " 296,505,257 

1917 " 388,213,553 

1918 " 260,711,751 

$1,002,672,413 

QUANTITIES EXPORTED 

Shells 65,343,647 

Fuses 29,638,126 

Fuse parts 16,174,073 

Cartridge cases 48,627,673 

Percussion primers 35,386,488 

Exploder containers 13,285,000 

Shell and adapter forgings 6,412,115 



Canada's Official War Record 537 

QUANTITIES EXPOKTED CONTINUED 

Explosives and Chemicals: Pounds 

T. N. T 41,754,950 

Cordite 28,542,157 

Other (more than) 41,000,000 

Metals and Compounds: 

Steel bars 43,077,923 

Zinc 35,412,413 

Nickel 1,792,000 

Other. . (more than) 27,000,000 

Lumber for Aeroplanes : Feer 

Spruce 16,289,227 

Fir 6,801,324 

Other Lumber: 

Douglas fir 11,530,315 

Pine, various kinds and quahties 10,360,566 

Spruce 8,345,675 

Workers engaged in war contracts 200,000 to 300,000 

Persons handling and transporting stores, about 50,000 

Contractors in Canada for munitions, about 1,000 

In the report issued by the Imperial War Cabinet for the 
year 1917, Canada^s services to the empire in the production of 
munitions are referred to as follows : 

Canada^ s contribution during the last year had been very striking. 
Fifteen per cent of the total expenditure of the Ministry of Munitions 
in the last six months of the year was incurred in that country. She has 
manufactured nearly every type of shell from the 18-pounder to the 9.2- 
inch. In the case of the 18-pounder no less than 55 per cent of the output 
of shrapnel shells in the last six months came from Canada, and most of 
these were complete rounds of ammunition which went direct to France. 
Canada also contributed 42 per cent of the total 4.5-inch shells, 27 per 
cent of the 6-inch shells, 20 per cent of the 60-pounder H. E. shells, 15 
per cent of the 8-inch and 16 per cent of the 9.2-inch. 

FOOD CONTROL 

The office of Food Controller was created in Canada in June, 
1917. In February, 1918, the powers and duties of the controller 
were vested in the Canada Food Board, which was then estab- 
lished. 

The function of the food board was, generally, to secure the 
largest possible supply of food to the fighting forces of the Allies 



538 Canada's Sons in the World War 

and to the civil population in Europe by means of increased pro- 
duction and conservation of food in Canada. 

Increased Production. — ^Early in 1918 steps were taken to add 
to the production of Canadian farms. Over 1,100 farm tractors 
were bought and resold to farmers at cost price. 

The following figures show the increase of the acreage of the 
principal crops: 

1917-Acres 1918-Acre3 

Wheat 14,755,850 17,353,902 

Oats 13,313,400 14,790,336 

Barley 2,392,200 3,153,811 

Rye 211,880 555,294 

Mixed grains 497,326 1,068,120 

These were much larger than the areas of the crops before 
the war. 

The total value of all field crops in 1917 was $1,144,136,450, 
and m 1918, $1,337,350,870, an increase of 16.8 per cent. Both 
these values were higher than those of any preceding year. 

The following are the quantities of wheat, flour and oatmeal 
exported from Canada between August 1, 1917, and July 31, 1918: 

Bushels 

Wheat 118,579,601 

flour 11,257,942 

Oatmeal 372,302 

VOLUNTARY WAR ORGANIZATIONS 

General Statistics. — The following is a summary of gifts for 
various war purposes from the Federal and Provincial Govern- 
ments, from mimicipahties, societies, universities, business houses 
and other corporations, and from private individuals: 

Canadian Patriotic Fund (to November 30, 1918) $42,864,207 

Manitoba Patriotic Fund (to March 31, 1918) 3,957,042 

Canadian Red Cross Society (to December 7, 1918) : 

Contribution in cash 7,771,083 

Gifts in suppHes (estimated) 13,500,000 

British Red Cross Society (to December 31, 1917) 6,100,000 

Belgian Relief Fund (to December 19, 1918) : 

Contributions in cash 1,642,104 

Gifts in supplies (estimated) 1,512,800 



V 



Canada's Official War Record 539 

Contributions from Canada to Y. M. C. A. for Military Work S4,574;821 
Gifts from Dominion and Provincial Governments to Govern- 
ment of United Kingdom 5,469,319 

To the above should be added miscellaneous gifts from various 
sources for many objects. These include contributions 
for the equipment and maintenance of hospitals overseas 
and in Canada, to the French, Serbian and Polish ReUef 
Funds, to numerous associations for the supply of field 
comforts to troops overseas and for the care of returned 
soldiers. These contributions, together with other gifts 
for various patriotic purposes, on a conservative estimate 
amount to 8,000,000 

Total $95,391,376 

The approximate total of voluntary contributions from Canada 

for war purposes is, therefore, over 95,000,000 

Of the various war organizations working in Canada, or 
amongst Canadian troops overseas, the most extensive in their 
operations are the Canadian Patriotic Fund, the Canadian Red 
Cross Society, and the Military Branch of the Y. M. C. A. 

Canadian Patriotic Fund. — The Canadian Patriotic Fund is a 
national organization (covering all the provinces except Manitoba, 
which for this purpose is organized separately), the object of which 
is to give assistance where necessary to the dependent relatives, 
in Canada, of allied soldiers and sailors on active service in the 
present war. The fimd is administered locally through com- 
mittees serving gratuitously. The committees act on general 
instructions from headquarters, and are given discretionary powers 
as regards the approval of applications and the amount of grants. 
The funds are raised by voluntary contribution. Since Jime, 1916, 
the expenditure in relief work of the Canadian Patriotic Fund has 
averaged about $900,000 a month. This smn has covered the 
assistance of from 50,000 to 60,000 families. The total has reached 
nearly $43,000,000. 

Canadian Red Cross Society. — ^The Canadian Red Cross 
Society is organized in eight provincial and about 1,200 local 
branches. Its object is to furnish aid to sick and wounded soldiers 
as an auxiliary to the Army Medical Corps. The more important 
activities of the society include the supply of equipment for Cana- 
dian military hospitals, grants to British and other hospitals, care 



540 Canada's Sons in the World War 

of Canadian prisoners of war, and the collection and shipment of 
suppHes of various kinds, inchiding clothing for the refugees being 
repatriated in the devastated areas of Europe. The society has 
collected §7,771,083 in money and gifts to the value of more than 
813,500,000. 

r. M, C. ^.— The Mihtary Branch of the Y. M. C. A. carries 
on its work with the troops overseas in France and Gemiany, and 
in seventy-six centres in England. These include regular camps 
and units, base camps, convalescent camps and hospitals. In 
Canada there are thirty-eight centres of operation, including 
camps, barracks. Red Triangle Clubs, hospitals, naval stations and 
troop trains. There were in 1917, 133 secretaries on the overseas 
staff with honorary commission in the C. E. F. Of these, fifty 
received their pay and allowances from the Y. M. C. A., while 
the remamder were paid by the Government. In Canada, one 
hundred ci\ihan secretaries are employed for mihtary purposes 
by the association. More than $4,500,000 has been contributed 
for this work. 

women's work 

Statistics, however complete, can give only an imperfect 
impression of the services which Canadian women have rendered 
during the war. The following are a few facts which bear upon 
this subject: 

Nursing. — Women to the number of 2,400 have gone overseas 
in the C. E. F. and have served in England, France, Belgium, 
EgjT)t, Greece and Russia. They were posted for duty in base 
hospitals, clearing stations, ambulance trains and hospital ships. 
There are also 527 on duty in Canada. 

The casualties suffered by nurses were: 

Killed in France (lq bombiag raids) 4 

Killed at sea (by submaiines) 14 

Died of disease 15 

Died in Canada 6 

The number of V. A. D.'s who have gone overseas is 342, 
who have served in hospitals in England and France. 

The following decorations have been awarded to nursing sisters : 

Military medal 4 

Royal Red Cross, First Class 43 

Royal Red Cross, Second Class 149 



Canada's Official War Record 541 

Many hundreds of Canadian women are serving in Canada 
as volunteer hospital probationers in miUtary hospitals and in 
England under the Joint War Connnittee^s Women's V. A. D. 
Department. 

More than 1,000 women have been employed by the Royal 
Air Force in Canada on a wide range of duties, including motor 
transport work. 

Between 5,000 and 6,000 women were employed in the Civil 
Service for the most part on work created by the war. 

About 75,000 women gave their services to assist in the com- 
pilation of the National Register in June, 1918. 

Women's Organizations. — Women's clubs and societies all 
through the country since the beginning of the war have very 
generally diverted their energies to special war work, and have 
been of the greatest service. 

Women's War Conference. — ^A conference of about seventy-five 
representative women from all provinces of the dominion was 
called at Ottawa in February, 1918, on the invitation of the War 
Committee of the Cabinet. Those invited were asked to give 
special consideration to the relation of women to such matters 
as increased agricultural production, commercial and industrial 
occupations, the compilation of the National Register and the 
conservation of food. 

The conference served a very useful purpose, particularly in 
the increased measure of co-operation which it made possible 
between the Government and women's organizations throughout 
the country. 

Women's Franchise. — Reference should be made to the fact 
that by an Act of Parliament, 1918, Canadian women have received 
the Federal electoral franchise on the same basis as men. 

WAR LIQUOR REGULATIONS 

During 1917 and 1918 the Federal Government issued a series 
of regulations controlling the hquor traffic for the purpose of 
preventing waste, and for the promotion of thrift, the conservation 
of financial resources, and the increase of national efficiency. 

In November, 1917, it was forbidden by the Dominion Govem- 
m.ent, as a war measure, to use foodstuffs in the distillation of liquors. 
In the same month the quantity of malt manufactured, and the 

31 



542 Canada's Sons in the World War 

quality of barley used in the manufacture of malt were both limited 
in the interest of food conservation. 

Successive Orders in Council under the War Measures Act, 
1914, were passed in December, 1917, and January, 1918, which 
prohibited the importation of intoxicating liquor into the dominion. 

At the end of 1916 the sale of intoxicating liquor was pro- 
hibited by provincial statutes in all the provinces save Quebec. 
In this province a prohibition measure has been passed which is 
to come into effect on the 1st of May, 1919. 

In order to bring about national prohibition it was necessary 
for the Federal Government to supplement provincial laws and 
prevent both the manufacture of intoxicating liquor in any province 
of the dominion and the traffic in this commodity between the 
provinces. This was done by an Order in Council passed in March, 
1918, under the special powers conferred by the War Measures Act. 

REHABILITATION OF RETURNED SOLDIERS 

In February, 1918, a new Department of State was created, 
to be known as the Department of Soldiers' Civil Re-Estabhshment. 

The department has arranged, since the date of the armistice, 
for the distribution of questionnaire cards among the Canadian 
overseas forces, in order to ascertain the desires of the men with 
reference to the district to which they wish to be returned and 
the kind of work that they wish to take up. 

Representatives of the departments overseas keep the soldiers 
informed as to the methods adopted in Canada to assist them 
back to civil life. In Canada, public education is being under- 
taken in order that employers and the pubhc generally will know 
what is expected of them in the successful carrying out of the civil 
absorption of the 300,000 or 400,000 soldiers. 

The Employment Scheme.— Fov the men who have not their 
old positions awaiting them, the Covernment is conducting a sur- 
vey of industries, that is to say, employers are being asked to 
state periodically what vacancies exist in their organizations. 

The Government has also made arrangements to connect 
the soldiers with vacant positions. There are provided, in addi- 
tion to employment bureaus, several other pubhc employment 
offices through which a man can secure work without paying any 
fee. These offices are being co-ordinated into one system under 



Canada's Official War Record 543 

the guidance of the Repatriation Committee, and others will be 
estabhshed; so that in each mihtary dispersal centre and in every 
town of 10,000 population or more, there will be a demobihzation 
emploj-ment office. 

Retraining, — ^Every man discharged from the Canadian Ex- 
peditionary Force who has received a disabihty which prevents 
him from following his previous occupation in civil life, is entitled 
to retraining, free of charge, in some trade or profession of his own 
choice in which his disabihty will not prove a handicap. During 
such period of retraining the Government provides for the main- 
tenance of his family or dependents. 

Retraining is carried on in universities, colleges, technical 
and agricultiu-al schools throughout the dominion, with special 
equipment in six centres and practical training, under actual 
shop conditions in the plants of leading manufacturers, is given 
in conjunction \\dth the theoretical work of the classes. At the 
end of September, 1918, men were being retrained in not less than 
158 occupations. 

Medical Care. — The care of invahded soldiers is divided roughly 
into two stages: (1) Before discharge, by the Department of 
Mihtia and Defence, (2) after discharge, by th^ Department of 
Soldiers' Civil Re-Estabhshment, for life if necessary. For this pur- 
pose the department has estabhshed a permanent medical service. 

These two stages dovetail in connection "^ith: 

(a) Occupational Therapy. — The Department of Soldiers' Ci^dl 
Re-Estabhshment supphes the personnel and equipment for this 
work while soldier patients are still in mihtary hospitals, the work 
being under the direction of the medical officer in charge of the 
hospital. 

(6) Orthopoedic Appliances. — The Department of Soldiers' 
Civil Re-Estabhshment manufactures artificial limbs and furnishes 
major and minor orthopaedic apphances for all soldiers and ex- 
soldiers who are entitled to the same. These apphances are main- 
tained in good repair during the life of the wearer. Orthopoedic 
fitting depots are maintained by the department for this piu-pose 
throughout the dominion. 

The Medical Branch of the Department of Soldiers' Civil Re- 
Estabhshment has eight functions or duties: 

1. Care of all cases of pulmonary tuberculosis. These cases 



544 Canada's Sons in the World War 

are discharged from the army, as soon as diagnosed, for treatment 
under the department. 

2. The care of the permanently insane, epileptics, and feeble- 
minded. 

3. The care of incurables and cases likely to be of long dura- 
tion and requiring institutional treatment. 

4. The manufactiu'e and supply of orthopaedic appliances, 
both major and minor. 

5. The care of cases of recurrence of war disabilities. 

6. Medical care of men undergomg industrial re-education. 

7. Dental care of: (a) Ex-soldiers undergoing industrial re- 
education; (h) cases in institutions under the control of the Depart- 
ment of Soldiers' Civil Ee-Establishment; (c) defects of the teeth 
due to war service. 

8. The care of out-patients, who are divided into two classes. 
Those in the first class are unable to work and are in receipt of 
full pay and allowances, but no pension is paid while they are 
under treatment. Their income is approximately that which they 
received while on mihtary service. Those in the second class 
report periodically at clinics for treatment, their pensions are 
continued to them and they receive allowances in accordance with 
the amount of time lost when reporting. 

PENSIONS 

The Board of Pension Commissioners for Canada was consti- 
tuted by Order in Council, dated June 3, 1916. The commission 
employs 875 people. Of these 624 are employed at the head office 
in Ottawa and 191 at the district offices; 749 are either returned 
soldiers or the dependents of soldiers still on service. 

Seventeen district offices have been established in the larger 
centres of the dominion and have been found of great advantage. 
They afford the discharged men convenient bureaus of information 
where the pensions' regulations can be explained personally to 
them by officials of the commission. 

Medical examiners are on the staff of each district office. 
They re-examine pensioners for continuance of pension, and when 
necessary for the adjustment of all complaints regarding awards. 

Visitors also form part of the staff of each district office. Their 
duties include the paying of at least one visit annually to every 



Canada's Official War Record 545 

pensioner. They investigate all cases of hardship and bring to 
the notice of the commission any circumstances in which the 
appointment of guardians or administrators might result in pre- 
venting an improper expenditure of pension moneys. 

Disability Pensions. — Pensions are awarded, in accordance 
with the provisions of the regulations, for disabihties arising on 
service. These are di\'ided into twenty classes according to the 
degree of the disabihty. In determining an award, no reference 
is made to occupation prior to enlistment. The disability is the 
decisive factor in every case. 

No reduction in pension is made by reason of the pensioner's 
ability to earn or because of his actual earnings. He is pensioned 
because of the loss or lessening of a national function of the body. 
So long as this loss or lessening is present his pension continues. 
It is discontinued only when the disabihty has ceased. 

Dependents^ Pension. — Dependents, as designated by the regu- 
lations, of soldiers or sailors dying on service or as the result of 
injuries received or diseases contracted or aggravated on service 
are entitled to pensions. 

The commission has exclusive jurisdiction over all matters 
relating to pensions' administration, as set forth in the regulations 
which are embodied in various Orders in Council. No appeals 
can be made from the decisions of the commission but every ap- 
plicant may present his or her case to the commission either per- 
sonally or by counsel. 

The scale of Canadian war pensions is higher than that of any 

of the allied countries. It is as follows: 

Private soldier for total disability (per annum) 8600.00 

Widows (per annum) 480 .00 

Parents (per annum) 480 . 00 

Children (per annum) $96.00 to 144.00 

Orphan children (per annum) 192.00 to 288.00 

Special allowances for helplessness, not to exceed . . . (per annum) 300 . 00 

Pensions are being awarded at the rate of 137 daily. 
The number and nature of and the annual Uabihty for pen- 
sions, as at November 30, 1918, were as follows: 

Disability pensions 38,767 86,012,846 

Dependents 14,719 7,433,346 

Totals 53,486 $13,446,192 



546 Canada's Sons in the World War 

LAND SETTLEMENT 

The Soldier Settlement Board. — The Soldier Settlement Act 
of 1917 makes provision for helping soldiers and sailors to settle 
on the land and for providing them with money with which to 
start farming. A Soldier Settlement Board has been estabhshed 
to administer the act. The board has its head office at Ottawa and 
branch offices at Montreal, Toronto, Winnipeg, Regina, Edmonton, 
and Victoria, with an Honorary Loan Advisorj'- Board at each 
place. The Farm Loan Board in New Brunswick, the Returned 
Soldiers' Commission in Nova Scotia and the Department of 
Agriculture in Prince Edward Island will represent the board in 
those provinces. 

The privileges granted by the act may be given to any person 
who has served during the war in the Canadian naval or military 
forces, or in the forces of the United Kingdom, or of any of the 
British dominions or colonies, or is a British subject, Hving in 
Canada before the war, who has served in the forces of any of the 
Allies, or is the widow of any person, described above, who died 
on active service. 

The board may make loans for the purpose of acquiring land 
for farming, the erection of farm buildings and the purchase of 
stock, machinery and equipment. The amount of every loan is 
to be based on the value of the land or other security given. Every 
loan is to be a first mortgage or first charge on the land, is to bear 
interest at the rate of five per cent per annum and is to be repaid in 
equal annual instalments in not more than twenty years. 

HOUSING 

The Government has appropriated the sum of $25,000,000 for 
housing in Canada. The object cf the Government is to provide 
houses for workingmen, particularly returned soldiers, at the 
actual cost of building and land acquired at a fair value, thus 
ehminating the profits of the speculator. The Government has 
appointed a conamittee of the cabinet to administer the loan. 

The money will be lent direct to the Provincial Governments, 
all loans for housing purposes will be administered through them, 
and each province has to prepare a general scheme. Frame and 
veneered houses must not exceed $3,500 in cost, and brick, con- 
crete, and stone houses $4,500 in cost. The money will be lent 



Canada's Official War Record 547 

for twenty years, or iii special cases for thirty years. The Govern- 
ment is recommending that the sites and buildings should be properly 
planned, in accordance with modern principles of town planning 
and architecture. It is hoped that the Federal Branch of the 
Administration will be useful to the different provinces as a clear- 
ing house for comparative information regarding details of schemes, 
methods of standardization of dwelhngs, costs of construction, 
to\\Ti planning procedure, methods of expropriating land for schemes 
and model plans of dwellings. 

THE KHAKI UNIVEESITY 

An educational plan has been established in connection with 
the Canadian forces under the name of the Department of Edu- 
cational Services, popularly called the Khaki University 

The Khaki University is under the control of the Department 
of Militia and is recognized by the Canadian universities. In 
addition to the funds supplied by the military authorities, a large 
amount of money has been put by the Y. M. C. A. at the disposal 
of the committee for carrying on the work. 

The teaching is done almost entirely by voluntary instructors, 
chaplains and Y. M. C. A. secretaries, as well as officers, n. c. o.'s 
and men who had previously been in the teaching profession. 

Many Hbraries have been established in the army areas in 
England and France, and over 12,000 men have registered in 
Khaki University classes in England. 

The work which has been organized in the training centres in 
England and, as far as possible among the troops in France, will 
be carried on and developed even during the period of demobil- 
ization. 

THE REPATRIATION COMMITTEE 

A committee of the cabinet has been appointed and charged 
with the duty and responsibihty of securing the closest co-operation 
of all the departments of the Government and of other agencies 
now existing, or to be created for the purpose of deahng with: 
(a) The absorption into civil Hfe and occupation of discharged 
soldiers; (b) labour conditions which may arise from industrial 
dislocation and readjustment. 

An office has been opened at Ottawa the staff of which is in 



548 Canada's Sons in the World War 

continual communication with Dominion and Provincial Govern- 
ment Departments, municipalities and voluntary organizations. 

WAK ARCHIVES SURVEY 

In April, 1917, the public archivist was empowered to make 
a survey of all the war activities of Canada, and prepare a complete 
key to all classes of pubhc war records, and to ail the departments, 
agencies, etc., in which they originate. This key will ensure that 
all Canada's records will be preserved and organized, ultimately, 
in such a way as to be available and intelhgible for historical and 
other uses. In pursuance of this plan, a Canadian Special Mission 
visited Europe and obtained reports on all Canadian war work 
overseas. These reports, in fifteen large volimies, are deposited 
in the public archives at Ottawa. 

THE W^AR MUSEUM 

An Im_perial War Museiun, mth a Canadian section and a 
Canadian representative, is to be estabhshed in London. It will 
contain war trophies of every description. A similar collection 
has been secured for Canada. 




THE RIGHT HONORABLE DAVID LLOYD GEORGE 

British Premier, who headed the coalition cabinet which carried 
England through the war to victory. 



CHAPTER XXXVI 

The Peace Conference at Paris 

After prolonged discussions of a preliminary nature, conducted 
by the leading statesmen of the five Great Powers— Britain, France, 
United States, Italy and Japan — the numerous details which 
had to be settled before the real peace congress could begin work 
were disposed of, and the Supreme Council of the Powers decided 
that the opening session should be held on January 18th. One of 
the chief problems that had to be solved was that of the representa- 
tion of the various nations in the Peace Conference. Each one of 
the Entente Allies had its own special claims for recognition, some 
based on participation in the war and actual accomplishment 
therein, others on future political importance and responsibility 
in carrying out the decisions of the conference. The claims as to 
war accomplishment were given second place, and in apportioning 
the number of delegates it was decided to consider chiefly the 
population, size and importance of the nations concerned. 

Great Britain, France, the United States, Italy and Japan 
each had five representatives at the full conferences. Brazil had 
three delegates; Belgium, Serbia and Greece two each, and the 
smaller Allies one each. Recognition of the great part played in 
the war by the various dominions of the British Empire was shown 
by the allotment of two delegates each to Canada, Australia, India 
and South Africa, and one to New Zealand. The representatives 
of the dominions and the smaller Allies attended the meetings only 
when matters directly affecting their welfare were under considera- 
tion. 

The Peace Conference then got down to business and sat from 
that time onward until the Peace Terms were issued, with the 
exception of the period during which Premier Clemenceau, stricken 
down by an anarchist's bullet, was compelled to absent himseK 
from all meetings. Premier Lloyd George was called home to take 
the lead in arranging a settlement between the turbulent labour 
elements on the one side, and the moderate trade unions, capital 

( 551 ) 



552 



Canada's Sons in the World War 




O f 






too 



^7 -,€.«* '2UK,<:^ ^ 1/ 



L9/T^ /y/^^/^nr /»^ 



^^ 






€ 






Where the Allied Armies Waited the Result of the Peace Coxeerence 

The three black semi-circles are the Rhine bridgeheads occupied by the Allies in 
accordance with the Armistice of November 11, 1918. The Germans retired from the 
final battle line to the limits of the lightly shaded neutral zone east of the RWne. 



The Peace Conference at Paris 553 

and industry in general on the other side, and President Wilson 
departed for Washington to personally lead the fight for the assent 
of the United States Senators to the draft constitution of the 
League of Nations. 

The opening session of the great Peace Conference in Paris was 
chiefly a formal meeting to inaugurate the proceedings in a manner 
worthy of their importance. With due ceremony the President of 
France declared the Congress open, and the French Premier, 
Clemenceau, was then appointed president. A committee was 
nominated to enquire into the credentials of the various delegates, 
and the conference adjourned until the Supreme Council of the 
Great Powers could formulate concrete proposals on some of the 
many problems which must be settled by the peace plenipotenti- 
aries. 

As the formation of a League of Nations was regarded as one 
of the main preliminaries to the settlement of a just and lasting 
peace, little real progress toward the final treaty could be made 
by the conference before the constitution of the league had been 
accepted by the Great Powers. Upon the final conditions laid 
down in this covenant depended, to a great extent, the future 
naval and military policies of the nations concerned, if the Peace 
Conference was to take any serious steps towards a general dis- 
armament. 

The necessity of seeking some settlement with Ruseia before 
the subject of a League of Nations could be usefully discussed 
became instantly apparent. A proposal had already been made 
by Premier Lloyd George that representatives from the various 
parties in Russia should be invited to Paris to present their views 
to the conference. This suggestion was vigorously opposed by 
the French Foreign Minister, Pichon, who fiercely resented the 
idea of even thus far recognizing the existence of the Bolsheviki, 
and he refused, in the name of France, to have any discussion or 
dealings with them. 

After devoting several meetings to the study of the problem, 
the Supreme Council of the Great Powers referred the matter to 
the special consideration of President Wilson, requesting him to 
formulate definite proposals to be submitted to the council. As a 
result the Entente Powers decided to invite representatives of all 
the different factions, political or military, in Russia to meet 



554 Canada's Sons in the World War 

envoys of the Powers in order that the views and ideas of the 
opposing parties might be thoroughly aired. With a proper under- 
standing of the facts of the case obtained in this manner, the 
AUies hoped to formulate some scheme which would be acceptable 
to the majority of Russians, and in this way help them to a peace- 
ful settlement of their troubles. The AUies were careful to state 
that their intentions were purely friendly, that they did not vdsh 
to exploit Russia in any way, and that they recognized the revolu- 
tion without reservation. The meeting with the Russians was 
called for February loth, but did not materialize. 

At the second plenary sitting of the Peace Conference, on 
January 25th, the principal business was the discussion of the 
draft prehminary resolutions for the League of Nations. The 
resolutions, which were proposed by President Wilson, seconded 
by Mr. Lloyd George, and passed without change, are of such 
historic importance that we reproduce them in full: 

The conference having considered the proposals for the creation of 
a League of Nations, resolviag that: 

A — It is essential to the maintenance of the world settlement which 
the associated nations are now met to estabhsh that a League of Nations 
be created to promote international co-operation to ensure the fulfilment 
of expected international obligations and to provide safeguards agaiQst war. 

B — This league should be treated as an integral part of the general 
treaty of peace and should be open to eveiy civilized Jiation which can 
be relied on to promote its object. 

C — The members of the league should periodically meet in inter- 
national conference, and should have a permanent organization and 
secretariat to carry on the business of the league lq the intervals between 
the conferences — the Conference, therefore, appoints a committee repre- 
sentative of the associated governments to work out the details of the 
constitution and functions of the league. 

Man}^ controversial matters came before the Conference at 
different times. The Presidents of the United States and France 
did not always see eye to eye, for France through bitter experience 
demanded terms that would make her free from invasion by Ger- 
many forever, while President Wilson had in mind the larger 
object of making all war impossible in the future. 

ASPIRATIONS OF THE NATIONS 

The desires of the allied and neutral nations often overlapped 
and it was the difficult task of the Peace Conference to adjust 



The Peace Conference at Paris 



555 



them. The chief demands and aspirations might be briefly ex- 
pressed as follows: 

France wanted Alsace-Lorraine, the basin of the Sarre River, 
no military works to be built along the left bank of the Rhine, 
some sort of guardianship of Syria and adequate reparation for 
damage done. 

Great Britain wanted a Society of Nations established, inter- 
national freedom of transit by railroads and waterways, manda- 
tory powers over German islands south of the equator, German 




m Proposed Cyzantins 
^ Neut/al State 

'j'tKCH. D«>myc CO ISC >. >. 



How Greece Hoped to Expand 
Showing territorj'^ claimed by Greece, and also the proposed Byzantine neutral state. 

Southwest Africa, German East Africa, parts of Arabia and Meso- 
potamia and her share of the pooled indemnities. 

Italy wanted the Trentino to the Bremer Pass, Trieste, Istria, 
Fiume, Zaron, Sebentico; the larger part of the Dalmatian Islands; 
Aviona and its hinterland, certain islands in the ^gean and a 
protectorate over Albania. 

Rumania w^anted part of Russian Bessarabia, Southern Dob- 
rudja and the mouth of the Danube; also Eukowina, Transylvania 
and part of Banat. As Serbia also wanted the latter, French troops 
were moved in between the two hostile armies. 



55^ 



Canada's Sons in the World War 



Serbia wanted Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia. Monte- 
negro had already united with Serbia but Serbia and Italy^s claims 
clashed sharply in regard to Fiume, and the seaboard. 

Greece desired Epirus, Thrace, the shores of the Bosporus 
and the Dardanelles placed under international control. She also 
put forward certain claims to Smyrna and Turkish islands in the 
eastern iMediterranean. 

Bulgaria, though beaten, hoped to receive extensions of her 
frontiers in southern IMacedonia, along the JEgean coast and in 
Thrace. 

Czecho-Slovakia, the new state comprising the old kingdom of 







Aixla- 
Chapelle- 



10 20 30 

6E1EBAI DQAM-.X& CO IHC t* 



How Belgium Hoped to Expand 
The Belgians claimed that the Netherlands should renounce its monopoly of the Scheldt. 

Bohemia, Moravia and the Slovak region of northern Hungary had 
already been incorporated, but numerous conflicts with surround- 
ing peoples had occurred. It wanted part of German Saxony, 
German Silesia, a frontage on the Danube and a corridor to the 
Adriatic. 

Poland wished to obtain eastern GaHcia, Cholm and Danzig. 

Belgium asked for fifteen biUion francs as the first lien on 
German assets, the return of machinery and tools stolen, the left 
bank of the Scheldt and total reparation. 

Japan stated she would hand back Tsing-Tau. She desired 
to retain the German isles north of the equator and evidently wished 



The Peace Conference at Paris 557 

to obtain certain former German concessions on the Shantung 
Peninsula. She was also willing to aid in restoring order in Russia. 

China wanted to be guaranteed freedom from foreign 
aggression, the gradual abohtion of '^Consular rights/' and the 
return of Kiau-Chau. 

Switzerland desired an outlet to the sea by making the Rhine 
a neutral stream. 

Denmark wished to annex that part of northern Schleswig 
inhabited by Danes. 

It may at once be seen that the satisfactory adjustment of 
these demands meant a rearrangement of the map of Europe. 
Furthermore, many of the claims conflicted; in some cases, par- 
ticularly in the Balkans, the satisfactory settlement of the demand 
of one nation would outrage the national sentiment of another. 
On several occasions the situation at the Peace Conference became 
so acute that delegates of certain countries withdrew in protest. 
Great difficulties also occurred through the pubhc becoming agi- 
tated over questions which had been more or less misrepresented 
by newspaper correspondents. The press of different countries 
wielded all possible influence to force discussion on certain debat- 
able matter. 

THE WITHDRAWAL OF ITALY 

Many and serious were the differences of opinion and conflicts 
of ambitions which had to be smoothed over or settled by the 
leaders of the peace delegates at Paris, but a breach more serious 
than all former ones was encountered, of such gravity as to threaten 
the withdrawal of one of the five great powers from the delibera- 
tions. Italy was the disaffected party, and the trouble arose over 
her insistence on her rights to the port of Fiume, on the eastern 
shores of the Adriatic, while the other Allies were not willing that 
she should occupy that seaport. 

Whether as spokesman for Britain and France or not, Presi- 
dent Wilson took the lead in opposing Italy's claim, and for several 
days the Italian delegates refrained from attending the councils 
of the Big Four. 

Italy based her claims on a secret agreement made with 
Britain and France, prior to her entering the war, known as the 
Pact of London, but her two Allies read the treaty as giving Fiume 



558 



Canada's Sons in the World War 




The Contrasting Coast-Lines of the Adriatic 

This map illustrates the contrast between the almost harbourless Adriatic coast 
of Italy and the opposite eastern coast with its numerous deep-water, well-sheltered 
ports. It also indicates the projection of the shore of Southern Albania to within 
45 miles of the Italian cape of Otranto, whereby a hostile power holding Valona 
(Avlona), could close the Adriatic to Italian shipping. The map further shows in 
tint the eastern possessions of Venice down to 1798. 



The Peace Conference at Paris 559 

to Croatia, so they were unable to support Italy's contention. 
President Wilson took the stand that as the United States did not 
become a party to this pact she was in no way bound by it, while 
she was certainly called to stand by the principles enunciated by 
the President in his famous fourteen points as principles of peace. 
It was contrary to those principles to allow Italy to annex Fiume 
on the pretense that she needed it to secure herself against Austrian 
naval aggression, when all the time there were countries on that 
side of the Adriatic who found Fiume their sole outlet to the 
Adriatic and Mediterranean. 

The President brought matters to a head by taking the unusual 
and original course of pubhshing a resume of the whole question, 
clearly stating his reasons for opposing Italy^s claims, and declaring 
his determination to abide by his principles. The Itahan delegates 
received their first intimation of the pubhcation of this statement 
when they read it in the Paris newspapers, and they immediately 
withdrew from the Peace Conference. 

Lloyd George and Clemenceau strained every nerve to pre- 
vent an actual breach and though pubhc feeling ran very high 
in Rome and throughout Italy in support of Premier Orlando, 
who, with Baron Sonnino, had returned to Italy, the matter, after a 
great deal of difficulty, was adjusted and the Italian representa- 
tives returned to the peace table. 

Japan's claims in China, particularly as to her rights in the 
Shantung peninsula, at one time seemed to threaten to bring about 
a block in the proceedings similar to that with the Itahans. A 
compromise was reached allowing Japan to temporarily retain 
her rights in the disputed territory, the decision as to permanent 
0Y\Tiership being postponed until after the larger question of the 
world's peace had been settled and signed. 

Belgium also withdrew her delegates in protest on one occasion. 

The task of the representatives of the Allies of preparing a 
treaty that would safeguard all the interests of the Allies and 
neutral powers, and render the German nation incapable of again 
waging v/ar was truly a Herculean one. For the first tim^e in the 
carrying out of such a task everytliuig was done in pubhc; it was 
the first time that secrecy had not prevailed; that ambassadors 
had played little or no part; that the cards were all on the table. 
The world would have no more of secret diplomacy and it said so 



560 Canada's Sons in the World War 

in no uncertain way. Consequently since there was to be a really 
earnest attempt to evolve a satisfactory settlement that would 
prevent future wars the greatest men of every country were the 
representatives appointed to the great task. 

To the waiting nations the time of discussing and preparing 
the Peace Treaty seemed long and they frequently became im- 
patient. Probably no one will ever explain the task and its attendant 
difficulties better than Mr. Lloyd George to a House of ParHament 
that had to a considerable extent lost its patience and become 
critical. Among other things the British Premier said : 

'^We want peace. We want a peace that is just, but not 
vindictive. We want peace, a stern peace, because the occasion 
demands it, the crime demands it; but its severity must be designed 
not to gratify vengeance, but to vindicate justice. Every clause in 
the terms must be justified on that ground. 

''Above all, we want to prevent a repetition of the horrors of 
the big war by making the wrongdoer repair the wrongs and losses 
which he has inflicted by his wanton aggression; by pimishing 
each individual who is responsible, and by depriving the nations, 
which menaced the peace of Europe for half a century with flourish- 
ing the sword, of their weapons. I stand by my pledges by avoiding 
a condition which, by creating a legitimate sense of wrong, would 
excite national pride to endlessly seek opportunities for redress. 
The most permanent security of all is the power of the nations of 
the earth federated with a firm purpose of maintaining peace." 



CHAPTER XXXVII 
The Treaty of Peace and League of Nations 

Two special trains conveyed the German peace delegates 
and their corps of assistants and reporters to Versailles where 
three hotels were placed at their disposal. They were empowered 
to sign the Peace Treaty if it contained nothing but what was 
covered by Wilson^s fourteen points. If in doubt they had to 
return to Weimar and consult the Government. 

The German delegates were headed by Count von Brockdorff- 
Rantzau, the German Foreign Minister. When received by Premier 
Clemenceau, who stood, the Count sat down and read a long speech 
in which he accused the Allies of causing thousands of deaths 
through starvation by continuing the blockade. Copies of the 
peace terms were then submitted to the German delegates for 
consideration. 

''We are imder no illusion as to the extent of our defeat and the 
degree of our want of power," said Count Brockdorff-Rantzau, 
when he received the peace terms on the fourth anniversary of the 
sinking of the Lusitania. 

The allied representatives refused to hold any discussion with 
the German delegates, stating that all representations must be put 
in writing. The treatment was exactly the same as that which the 
Germans had extended to Rumanians, who had been given four days 
to sign. From Germany, which had been allowed fifteen days to 
consider the terms and sign, came a long-sustained chorus of protests 
against the conditions imposed by the Peace Treaty. Chancellor 
Scheidemann, in the German Assembly, described the treaty as a 
murderous scheme entirely unacceptable. Everywhere agents 
endeavored to stir up public opinion against the peace terms and 
raise a popular outcry, but without any great success. 

In the fifteen-day interval volumes of notes of protest were 
sent by Count von Brockdorff-Rantzau, many of which v/ere con- 
sidered to be objections raised as a matter of form. 

When these had been considered, on the expiry of the time 

(561) 



562 



Canada's Sons in the World War 



period the German delegates were notified of the date on which 
their signatures were to be placed on the treaty. 

The great fear in France and Great Britain that there would 




Denmrk 

France (Afs&s^-loers/neJ- 

Rhine Province 

ttely 

Claiin&i ty Haiy and Ja^shys 

Ju3osl3viQ 

Chimed by /hamanhns and Ji^slaifi 

Rourfian'id""- 

CzeckoShvakid 

Poland 



The Problems of Peace 

Map of Europe, with different shadings to indicate the claims of the various 

nations represented at the peace conference 

be a ^'soft'^ peace was dissipated by the pubHshing of the peace 
terms. Everywhere throughout the United States, Great Britain 



The Treaty of Peace and League of Nations 563 

and France it was recognized that Germany had been reduced to a 
third-class power, that the world had been freed for all time from the 
terror of German imperialism and that the German people them- 
selves were freed from the obsessions that had brought ruin upon 
them. Their faith in militarism and the superman fallacy was 
destroyed. The nation which in its pride had sought to dominate 
the world was reduced to a countrj^ without an army, without a 
navy, with an enormous debt and without prestige in international 
pohtics. 

It was recognized that, taken in connection with the League of 
Nations, the German fate would act as a powerful deterrent to the 
rest of the world, for in five years the greatest military nation on 
earth had been rendered absolutely impotent. The terms which 
made the period of enlistment in the German army twelve years 
and prevented the discharge of more than five per cent of the 
force in any one year were designed to make the army unpopular 
as a profession and prevent any large number of civilians being 
trained as soldiers. 

There was no maudlin sentiment about the hardness of the 
terms. According to the published plans of Germany in 1915-19 
she intended to annex Belgium and the north of France from Verdun 
to Boulogne, deprive France of her colonies, break up the British 
Empire and demand large indemnities from the United States for 
suppljdng arms and munitions to the Alhes. 

Germany was not dismembered by the Allies, and though 
she lost her colonies, little purely German territory was alienated. 
She was made to pay as much as possible of the damages she had 
inflicted and properly so. It was a just treaty and because it 
was just it had to be harsh. The world tribunal found the German 
nation to be an outlaw; it had rebelled against civihzation, wrecked 
Europe and as such it had to be sequestered and pay the price of 
outlawTy. 

The German people naturally,"^ having been educated in the 
behef that they were the superior race and in certain principles, 
have as yet shoTvn little change of heart. They have not admitted 
their guilt and have shown little signs of remorse. German soldiers 
returning from the war were showered with gifts and acclaimed as 
victorious troops. The attitude of the German people was resentful 
and bitter. 



564 Canada's Sons in the World War 

The German representatives upheld the spectre of Bolshevism 
hi Germany before the Peace Conference in an effort to frighten it. 
They protested that they would not sign the treaty. Some said, 
like Walter Rathenau in Die Zunkunft, that the German people 
were innocent of the wrong they had committed in a childish spirit 
of obedience. Others claimed that it was not peace but revenge, 
and most of them claimed that the treaty w^as in utter defiance of 
President Wilson^s fourteen points. 

Meanwhile, Marshal Foch proceeded to his armies of occupation 
on the Rhine prepared to advance in case of necessity. 

SUMMARY OF PEACE TREATY 

The Treaty of Peace between the twenty-seven aUied and 
associated powers, on the one hand, and Germany, on the other, was 
handed to the German plenipotentiaries at Versailles on Wednesday, 
May 7, 1919, and signed on Saturday, Jime 28, 

Preamble — The preamble names as parties of the one part 
the United States, the British Empire, France, Italy and Japan, 
described as the principal aUied and associated powers, and Belgium, 
Bohvia, Brazil, China, Cuba, Ecuador, Greece, Guatemala, Haiti, 
the Hedjas, Honduras, Liberia, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, Poland, 
Portugal, Rumania, Serb-Croat and Slovene State, Siam, Czecho- 
slovakia and Uruguay, who, with the five above, are described as 
the alHed and associated powers; and of the other part, Germany. 

It states that: Bearing in mind that on the request of the 
Imperial German Government an armistice was granted on Novem- 
ber 11, 1918, to Germany by the principal allied and associated 
powers, in order that a treaty of peace might be concluded with 
her, and the alhed and associated powers being equally desirous that 
the war in which they were successively involved, directly or indi- 
rectly, and which originated in the declaration of war by Austria- 
Hungary on July 28, 1914, against Serbia; the declaration of war 
by Germany against Russia on August 1, 1914, and against France 
on August 3, 1914, and in the invasion of Belgium, should be 
replaced by a firm, just, and durable peace, the plenipotentiaries 
having commimicated their full powers foimd in good and due form 
have agreed as follows: 

From the coming into force of the present treaty the state of 
war will terminate. From the moment, aixd subject to the pro- 



The Treaty of Peace and League of Nations 565 

visions of this treaty, official relations with Germany, and with 
any of the German states, will be resumed by the alUed and 
associated powers. 

ALSACE RESTORED TO FRANCE 

Germany by the terms of the treaty restores Alsace-Lorraine 
to France, accepts the iaternationaUzation of the Saar Basin 
temporarily, and of Dantzig permanently; agi'ees to territorial 
changes towards Belgiiun and Denmark and in East Prussia, cedes 
most of Upper Silesia to Poland, and renounces in favour of the 
aUies all her rights and titles over her oversea possessions. She 
also recognizes the total independence of Austria, Czecho-Slovakia 
and Poland. 

Her army is reduced to two hundred thousand men, including 
officers, and to be still further reduced to one hundred thousand 
by March 31, 1920; conscription within her territories is abohshed, 
all forts fifty kilometres east of the Rhine razed, and all importation, 
exportation and nearly all production of war materials stopped. 

AUied occupation of parts of Germany will continue till repara- 
tion is made, but will be reduced at the end of each three-year 
period if Germany is fulfilliug her obHgations. 

Any violation by Germany of the conditions as to the zone 
fifty kilometres east of the Rhine will be regarded as an act of war. 

The German navy is reduced to six battleships, six fight 
cruisers and twelve torpedo-boats, without submariaes, and a 
personnel of not over fifteen thousand. All other vessels must be 
surrendered or destroyed. 

Germany is forbidden to build forts controlling the Baltic, 
must demoHsh Helgoland, open the Kiel Canal to all nations, and 
surrender her fourteen submarine cables. She may have no mifitary 
or naval air forces except one himdred unarmed seaplanes until 
October, to detect mines, and may not manufacture a\dation 
material for six months. 

She agrees to return to the 1914 most favored nation tariffs, 
without discrimination of any sort; to allow allied and associated 
nations freedom of transit through her territories, and to accept 
highly detailed provisions as to pre-war debts, unfair competition, 
intemationahzation of roads and rivers, and other economic and 
financial clauses. 



566 Canada's Sons in the World V/ar 

SHANTUNG 

Germany cedes to Japan all rights, titles and privileges, 
notably as to Kiaochow, and the railroads, mines and cables 
acquired by her treaty with Cliina of March sixth, eighteen 
ninety-seven, and other agreements as to Shantung. All German 
rights to the railroad from Tsingtao to Tsinaufu, including all 
facilities and mining rights and rights of exploitation, pass equally to 
Japan, and the cables from Tsingtao to Shanghai and Chefoo, the 
cables free of all charges. All German state property, movable 
and immovable, in Kiaochow is acquired by Japan free of all charges. 

GERMANY WILL PAY FOR ILLEGAL WARFARE 

Germany accepts full responsibihty for all damages caused 

to allied and associated governments and nations, agrees specially 

to reimburse all civihan damages, beginning mth an immediate 

pajnnent of 20,000,000,000 marks, later payments to be secured by 

'^bonds to be issued at the discretion of the Reparation Commission. 

Germany is to pay shipping damage, on a ton for ton basis, 
by cession of a large part of her merchant, coasting and river fleets, 
and by new construction and to devote her economic resources to 
the rebuilding of the devastated regions. 

A great number of international bodies of different kinds 
and for different purposes are created, some under the League of 
Nations, and some to execute the Peace Treaty. Among the former 
is the commission to govern the Saar Basin till a plebiscite is held 
fifteen years hence, the high commission of Dantzig, which is 
created into a free city under the league, and various commissions 
for plebiscites in Eupen and Malmedy, Schleswig and East Prussia. 

Among those to carry out the Peace Treaty are the repatria- 
tions, military, naval, air, financial and economic commissions, 
the international high court, and mihtary tribunals to fix responsi- 
bilities, and a series of bodies for the control of international rivers. 

GERMANY^S NEW FRONTIERS 

Concerning new frontiers^ the inhabitants of Schleswig are 
to be consulted as to whether or not they wish to remain German 
or to return to Denmark. 

Poland will have a corridor running down the Vistula to 
Danzig, which will be turned into a free city. 



The Treaty of Peace and League of Nations 569 



Luxemburg ) 



fv- 



As compensation for Germany's willful destruction of the 
coal mines in Northern France, the Saar Valley coal mines 
become the property of the French Government, but the government 
of the district will be carried on by a committee of five, appointed 
by the League of Nations, one a Frenchman, one native inhabitant 
and the remairiing three selected from countries other than France 
and Germany. After fifteen years the inhabitants shall decide their 
future by a plebiscite. 

One or two of the Walloon-speaking regions in Germany on 
the Belgian frontier pass to Belgium. 

The Brest-Litovsk Treaty, made by Germany with Russia, and 
others with Rumania, are considered as abrogated. 

Other clauses arraign 
the former Kaiser not for 
an offence against criminal 
law, but ''for a supreme 
offence against international 
morality and the sanctity 
of treaties." 

The tribunal to try him 
is to be composed of five 
judges, one each from 
United States, Great Bri- 
tain, France, Italy and 
Japan. 

Holland is to be asked to surrender the Kaiser. The Germans 
are also to hand over ''all persons accused of having committed any 
act in violation of the laws and customs of war who are specified, 
either by name or by rank in the office or employment which they 
held under German authorities." 



Prussia.^-' ,, 



iii> "T 




The Saar Coal Fields 



THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS 

Part One of the treaty of peace sets forth the covenant of the 
league of nations with this preamble: 

''The high contracting parties, in order to promote inter- 
national co-operation and to achieve international peace and 
security by the acceptance of obligations not to resort to war, by 
the prescription of open, just and honourable relations between 
nations, by the firm establishment of the understandings of inter- 



570 Canada's Sons in the World War 

national law as the actual rule of conduct among governments, 
and by the maintenance of justice and a scrupulous respect for all 
treaty obHgations in the dealings of organized peoples with one 
another, agree to this covenant of the League of Nations." 

The original members of the league are the signatories of the 
treaty, including Canada, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand 
and India. States in\dted to accede to the covenant were: Argen- 
tine, Chili, Colombia, Denmark, Netherlands, Non\^ay, Paraguay, 
Persia, Salvador, Spain, Sweden, ST\dtzerland, and Venezuela. 
Other states may be added on a two-thirds vote of the Assembly. 
An}'' member of the league may, after two years^ notice of intention, 
withdraw from the league provided all its international obligations 
have been fulfilled. 

Following are the chief provisions of the League of Nations: 

Not more than three delegates from each nation, an executive 
council, and one vote for each power. 

Council to consist of United States, Great Britain, France, 
Italy, Japan and foiu* small powers. 

Council meets at least once a year. 

Wilson to summon the first peace league meeting. 

Only self-governing countries admitted to the league. 

Reduction of armament to lowest point consistent with safety 
and enforcement of international obligations. 

Frank interchange of military information. 

Permanent military and naval commission. 

J^Ianufacture of munitions by private enterprises declared 
open to grave objections. 

League undertakes to respect and preserve against external 
aggression, the territorial integrity and political independence of 
its members. 

No war declaration imtil three months after arbitration. 

Peimanent arbitration court. 

A war, or threat of war, whether affecting members or not, is 
declared a matter of concern to the league which reserves right 
of action. 

Should any member of league break or disregard its promises 
to adhere to arbitration it will be considered an act of war against 
all members of the league, which undertakes a severance of all trade 
and financial relations. 



The Treaty of Peace and League of Nations 571 

Nothing in the covenant shall be deemed to affect the vahdity 
of international engagements, such as treaties of arbitration or 
regional understandings like the Monroe doctrine, for securing 
the maintenance of peace. 

Colonies taken from Germany, and not yet able to stand 
alone should be governed by mandate. Other countries can be 
recognized provisionally as independent. 

Permanent bureau of labor to be organized to endeavor to 
secure humane conditions for workers in their own and other 
countries. 

OPPOSITION TO THE LEAGUE 

When President Wilson, with all the conviction of his nature, 
brought forward the plan for a League of Nations, the world 
immediately divided itself into a number of classes. All agreed 
that sometiung must be done to limit armaments and future wars. 
But to many the Wilson prograrome was nebulous and impracticable. 
The French people, particularly, wanted definite guarantees of 
protection from future aggression on the part of Germany or any 
other nation. The British were favorable to the theory and were 
wilHng to reduce armaments but not the nav^^ The United 
States feared further entanglements iu European quarrels which 
had no bearing whatever on the United States and also dreaded 
interference with the Monroe Doctrine. 

The original plan was brought before a committee who worked 
upon it for some weeks. It was then submitted to the Peace 
Conference, discussed and modified, particularly by Mr. Lloyd 
George and Mr. Balfour, who made suggestions to make it more 
practicable and workable. Meanwhile the whole world was talking 
about the League of Nations' idea and the more people discussed 
it the more favorably they viewed it. 

^^Self-determination'' seemed at first sight a simple enough 
problem but a Httle thought will show that it is not so simple. 
For instance, the South wished to separate from the North, in the 
United States, and govern itself. The war which resulted was 
fought directly against the right of ^'self-determination" of the 
South to govern itself in its own. way. 

In Europe the difficulties surrounding this question appeared 
almost unsurmountable. There was the question of ' ^ self-determina- 



572 Canada's Sons in the World War 

tion" of the peoples included in Russia, in Poland, in Austria- 
Hungary and in the Balkans, to go no further. The setting up 
of a large number of small repubhcs in Europe would keep the 
rest of the world on edge for many years to come with their petty 
squabbles. 

The learned and cautious Oxford Professor, Gilbert MuiTay, 
in a historical and very clearly argued article, reminds us that: 
^'War does not always arise from mere wickedness or folly. It 
sometimes arises from mere growi:h and movement. Humanity 
will not stand still. One people grows while another declines. 
One naturally expands ia a particular direction and finds that 
thereby it is crossing the path of another.'^ He cites the unification 
of Italy, the independence of the United States, the release of Balkan 
nations from the Turks as proofs of that thesis. 

But he notes that: *^ Throughout the nineteenth century and 
up to 1914 an ever-increasing number of international difficulties 
were settled without war. The method was diplomatic conference 
and, when that failed, arbitration. In 1914 special arbitration 
treaties already existed between most of the Western nations, 
except Germany; and not only the treaties, but the spirit of fair 
dealing and 'cordial understanding' which had grown up between 
Great Britain and most of the other Powers, made the final cessation 
of war between civilized states a goal by no means unattaiaable. 
It only needed the further spread of the * cordial understanding' 
to include Germany and Austria, and so achieve that 'bringing 
together of the two great groups' which was the main purpose of 
Sir Edward Grey's policy." 

And he continues: ''The hope is that the League will be so 
strong and general that to stand out of it will be a marked action. 
The Power that stands out will thereby be confessing that it means 
still, in spite of all that the world has suffered, to cleave to war and 
make its fortune by war. Let us hope there may be no such Power. 
But if there is, its existence will not wreck the whole League; it 
will perhaps bind it the more together, as law-abiding settlers stand 
together against a robber or pirate." 

Brigadier-General Tyn-el, a British military historian, writes 
that his fear is that: "A League of Nations with only a general 
purpose is subject to the principle that what is everybody's business 
is nobody's business, as was proved in the case of Armenia and the 



The Treaty of Peace and League of Nations 573 

Congo Free State. In the former case Russia had constituted 
herself the protector of Armenia by the Treaty of San Stef ano ; but 
Lord Beaconsfield succeeded in substituting for this arrangement 
the protection of Armenian interests by concert of all the Great 
Powers of Europe, which was formally ratified in the Treaty of 
Berlin. 

"Great Britam was the only Power which attempted to carry 
out this provision of the treaty, and her half-hearted and ineffectual 
attempts only aggravated the sufferings of the Armenians under 
Turkish rule. 

'^In the second case the Congo Free State was created by 
the concert of European Powers to develop civilization in Central 
Africa, and it was confided to the tender mercies of Eling Leopold 
of Belgium, who violated every condition under which it had been 
entrusted to him and turned it into a slave state, worked for the 
pecuniary benefit of himself and other Belgian capitalists. Not a 
single government could be brought to interfere to enforce the con- 
ditions of the treaty which they had put their seals to. 

"When Austria-Hungary violated the provisions of that same 
treaty in 1909 by her annexation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, 
Germany supported her illegal act, and no other Power cared or 
dared to call her to account. Nations are selfish, like individuals, 
and may be trusted always to pursue their own interests instead 
of the common good, and a League of Nations to prevent war might 
perhaps result in providing causes for it.*^ 

Says Viscount, formerly Sir Edward Grey: "President Wilson 
and his country have had in this matter the great advantage of 
having been for more than two years and a half, before April, 
1917, able to observe the war as neutrals, free from the intense 
anxiety and effort that absorb all the thought and energy of bel- 
ligerents. They were able not only to observe, but to reflect and 
to draw conclusions. One of the conclusions has been that, if 
the world of which they form an important part is to be saved from 
what they consider disaster, they must enter the war against 
Germany; another has been that, if national Hberty and peace are 
to be secure in future, there must be a League of Nations to secure 
them. 

"It must not be supposed from this that the governments of 
the Allies are less ready to draw, or have not already drawn, the 



574 Canada's Sons in the World War 

same conclusion from the experience of the war; but their countries 
have been at war all the time. They have been fighting, it is true, 
for the same ideal of national and human Hberty as the United 
States, but fighting also for the immediate preservation of national 
existence in Europe, and all their thought and energy have been 
concentrated upon resistance to imminent peril. Nevertheless, in 
this country at any rate, the project of a League of Nations has 
met with widespread and cordial acceptance." 

The Right Honourable Arthiu* Henderson, the secretary of 
the British Labor Party, speaking for labor men, declares that: 
^'The estabhshment of a League of Nations will be a dramatic 
declaration of the fact that the peoples of the world form one family, 
and will show that they have learned that war is a family quarrel 
which humiliates every member of it, and destroys the happiness 
and prosperity of the whole. When the League is estabhshed, it 
will keep before the eyes of all nations the truth that peace is the 
greatest of human blessings, and that a dynasty or a government 
bent on war is the enemy of the human race. 

''In labor's view the ultimate purpose of such a League is to 
create a common mind in the world, to make the nations conscious 
of the solidarity of their interests, and to enable them to perceive 
that the world is one, and not a number of separate coimtries divided 
by artificial frontiers. . . . 

''Democracy stands at the cross-roads. Whether the path 
taken is the one that leads to a new social order giving freedom 
and security to all, or the path that leads to revolutionary struggles 
and a violent and stormy close to the story of Western civiHzation, 
depends very largely upon the fate of this project of a League of 
Nations. If we fail here we fail irretrievably. Wars more frightful 
than the present will waste the substance of our race, and we shall 
lose even the belief in the possibiHty of progress." 

Back of all this expert opinion was the conviction of the millions 
of men who had fought at the front that the whole system which 
had permitted of the cataclysm in Europe was wrong and had to be 
reformed. They reaUzed that the old system of secret alhances, 
of balance of power, of the stirring up of national hatreds which 
made war possible was a thing to be hated more than the enemy 
himself. 

The men and officers knew that the social and political structure 



The Treaty of Peace and League of Nations 575 

of European society was wrong and their influence was strongly 
behind the forces that sought to bring about its reform. The 
hope of a League of Nations therefore that would make war impossi- 
ble never received greater support than among the men who had 
faced death. They had no intention, if they could prevent it, of 
allowing their children and the generation yet to come to go into 
the hell of war through which they themselves had passed. 

During the Peace Conference great criticism and in some 
places strong opposition took place in regard to the League of 
Nations' covenant. In the United States this was so strong that 
President V/ilson returned to America to explain the plan and 
endeavour to formulate pubhc opinion in favour of the project. In 
a speech in New York upon the subject President Wilson said 
in part: 

*T do not know when I have been more impressed than by 
the conferences of the commission set up by the Conference of 
Peace to draw up a covenant for the League of Nations. The 
representatives of fourteen nations sat around that board — not 
young men, not men inexperienced in the poUtics of the world; and 
the inspiring influence of every meeting was the concurrence of 
purpose on the part of all those men to come to an agreement and 
an eS'ective working agreement with regard to this League of the 
civilized world. 

*' There was a conviction in the whole impulse; there was 
conviction of more than one sort; there was the conviction that 
this thing ought to be done, and there was also the conviction that 
not a man there would venture to go home and say that he had not 
tried to do it. 

''It is one of the agreements of this covenant that it is the 
friendly right of every nation a member of the League to call 
attention to anything that it thinks will disturb the peace of the 
world, no matter where that thing is occurring. 

''There is no subject that may touch the peace of the world 
which is exempt from inquiry and discussion, and I think everybody 
here present will agree with me that Germany would never have 
gone to war if she had permitted the world to discuss the aggression 
upon Serbia for a single week. 

"The British Foreign Office suggested, it pleaded, that there 
might be a day or two delay so that the representatives of the 



576 Canada's Sons in the World War 

nations of Europe could get together and discuss the possibilities 
of a settlement. Germany did not dare permit a day's discussion. 
You know that happened. So soon as the world realized that an 
outlaw was at large, the nations began one by one to draw together 
against her. 

*^We know for a certainty that if Germany had thought for 
a moment that Great Britain would go in with France and with 
Russia she never would have undertaken the enterprise and the 
League of Nations is meant as a notice to all outlaw nations that 
not only Great Britain, but the United States and the rest of the 
world, will go in to stop enterprises of that sort. And so the League 
of Nations is nothing more nor less than the covenant that the world 
will always maintain the standards which it has now vindicated by 
some of the most precious blood ever spilt. 

*'My friends, I wish you would reflect upon this proposition. 
The vision as to what is necessary for greater reforms has seldom 
come from the top in the nations of the world. It has come from 
the need and the aspiration and the self-assertion of great bodies 
of men who meant to be free. And I can explain some of the 
criticisms which have been levelled against this great enterprise 
only by the supposition that the men who utter the criticisms have 
never felt the great pulse of the heart of the world. 

''And I am amazed — not alarmed but amazed — that there 
should be in some quarters such a comprehensive ignorance of the 
state of the world. These gentlemen do not know what the mind of 
men is just now. Everybody else does. I do not know where they 
have been closeted; I do not know by what influences they have 
been blinded; but I do know that they have been separated from 
the general currents of the thoughts of mankind. 

''And I want to utter his solemn warning, not in the way 
of a threat; the forces of the world do not threaten, they operate. 
The great tides of the world do not give notice that they are going 
to rise and run. They rise in their majesty and overw^helming 
might, and those who stand in the way are overwhelmed. Now the 
heart of the world is awake, and the heart of the world must be 
satisfied. 

"America's soldiers went overseas feeling they were sacredly 
bound to the realization of those ideals which their President had 
enunciated when the United States went into the war. 



The Treaty of Peace and League of Nations 577 







578 Canada's Sons in the World War 

''There is another point which critics of the League had not 
observed. 

''They not only have not observed the temper of the world 
but they have not even observed the temper of those splendid boys 
in khaki that they sent across the seas. 

"And do you suppose," continued the President, "that having 
felt that crusading spirit of these youngsters, who went over there 
not to glorify America, but to serve their fellowmen, I am going 
to permit myself for one moment to slacken in my effort to be 
worthy of them and their cause? I do mean not to come back 
until 'it's over over there,' and it must not be over until the nations 
of the world are assured of the permanency of peace. 

"I must say that I have been puzzled by some of the criticisms 
— ^not by the criticisms themselves; I can understand them per- 
fectly, even when there was no foundation for them; but by the 
fact of the criticism. I cannot imagine how these gentlemen can 
Uve and not Hve in the atmosphere of the world. I cannot imagine 
how they can live and not be in contact with the events of the 
times, and I particularly cannot imagine how they can be Americans 
and set up a doctrine of careful selfishness, thought out to the 
last detail. I have heard no counsel of generosity in their criticism. 
I have heard no constructive suggestion. I liave heard nothing 
except ' Will it not be dangerous to us to help the world?' It would 
be fatal to us not to help it. 

"From being what I will venture to call the most formidable 
and the most powerful nation in the world we would of a sudden 
have become the most contemptible. So I did not need to be told, 
as I have been told, that the people of the United States would 
support this covenant. I am an American and I knew they would." 

Of George Washington's warning of entangling aUiances, 
President Wilson said that "the thing that he longed for was just 
what we are now about to supply — an arrangement which will dis- 
entangle all the alhances in the world." 

The President said that criticisms of the League "do not make 
any impression on me," because "the sentiment of the country 
is proof against such narrowness and such selfishness as that." 

"Now all the peoples of Europe are buoyed up in the hope 
that all the nations of the world will unite their moral and physical 
forces that right shall prevail. 



The Treaty of Peace and League of Nations 579 

^^What would happen if America should fail the world of 
its hopes? All nations will be set up as hostile camps again, and 
the men at the Peace Conference will go home with their heads upon 
their breasts because they will have failed. We would leave on the 
peace table nothing but a modern 'scrap of paper/ " 

The United States Senate refused to endorse the League 
of Nations^ plan as requested by President Wilson and Congress 
was adjourned in the midst of a Repubhcan filibuster in the Senate 
that succeeded in kilHng a long list of important measures. 

The President then announced that he would return to Europe 
and remain till peace was signed. 

In passing the revised covenant for the estabhshment of a 
League of Nations, the Allies fulfilled their promise to provide a 
means whereby it is hoped that a repetition of the horrors of the 
world war just concluded will be made impossible. 



CHAPTER XXXVIII 
The Canadian Army Medical Corps 

In spite of the terrible methods and conditions of modem 
warfare, no army has ever been kept in such splendid health as the 
huge comphcated organization which represented the British 
Empire. In so far as the Canadian Corps was concerned this was 
due to the ceaseless vigilance of the Canadian Army Medical 
Corps, supported by an efficient system of baths and laundries. 
The C. A. M. C. was modelled exactly after the system of the Royal 
Army Medical Corps. The work of the mobile laboratory and the 
strictly enforced regulations of the sanitary officers contributed 
largely to the health of the troops and their freedom from disease. 

The C. A. M. C. was the result of the work of Brigadier-General 
Neilson, our first Canadian Surgeon-General, who organized the corps 
in 1896. The organization consisted of an elastic skeleton formation 
which could be expanded indefinitely to meet any requirements. 

When war broke out the scheme of organization rapidly 
absorbed the members of the medical profession, students, and 
others who offered their services. The field ambulances and 
hospital imits needed at once were quickly mobilized and sent 
overseas, while others, including some raised by universities, were 
equipped and sent overseas as rapidly as they could be utilized. 

Few people reahze what an enormous expansion of the 
C. A. M. C. the imexpected size of the Canadian Expeditionary 
Force and the heavy toll of casualties necessitated. The Canadian 
hospital accommodation in England, at first confined to a single 
hospital at Taplow, ultimately embraced thirty hospitals in the 
southeastern counties. The Orpington Hospital alone had forty-six 
wards and covered acres of ground. 

Under the control of the C. A. M. C. in England there were 
stationary hospitals, convalescent hospitals. Red Cross hospitals, 
and special hospitals such as the WestcHffe Eye and Ear Hospital, 
a tuberculosis sanitarium at Stafford, and the Granville Canadian 
special hospital at Buxton for nervous disorders. 

( 580 ) 



The Canadian Army Medical Corps 581 

The whole organization in England for the first two and one- 
half years was under the control of the Director of Medical 
Services, SurgeonGeneral-Carleton Jones, C.M.G. (Legion of Honor), 
to whose patient and untiring efforts the credit of its marvellous 
development in England was due. Later on he was succeeded by 
Surgeon-General Foster, C.B., who took hold of a fully developed 
going concern. 

The medical service in each large training area was under 
an assistant director of medical services; in the smaller areas a 
deputy assistant director was in charge. There were in England 
field ambulances in training, sanitary section, advanced depots of 
medical stores and a mobile laboratory. The Canadian Army 
Medical Corps in England was not only a very large but a very 
complicated organization. 

In France, apart from the field ambulances, casualty clearing 
stations, advanced depots of medical stores and mobile laboratory, 
there were only general and stationary hospitals. 

No praise can be too high for the devotion to duty displayed 
by all ranks of the C. A. M. C. Stretcher bearers, orderHes, nurses 
and doctors worked sometimes for days on end, oftentimes under 
fire, and many were the deeds of bravery recorded and honom's 
received by them. Canadian hospital units at the front and even 
base hospitals far from the firing line, such as those at Salonika 
and Etaples, were deliberately bombed by Hun aviators. 

Canadian hospitals seeing service with the Imperial forces 
invariably earned the highest commendation from the British 
authorities for their efiiciency and high quahty of work. 

In the Canadian Corps a corps laundry was inaugurated to 
replace the divisional laundries formerly in use. Its capacity was 
40,000 pieces a day. The Canadian Corps laundry and bath- 
houses not only issued clean clothing but replaced lost and destroyed 
articles. This system was pecuhar to the Canadian Corps. The 
Ordnance Department, under whose charge the bath-houses and 
laundry were, issued garments directly to the laundry and baths 
where the issues were to be made. Lost garments or those rendered 
unserviceable through wear and tear were replaced at once. With 
a reserve of clothing on hand it was quite a simple matter, when 
issuing summer for winter underclothes, to make the exchange at 
the baths. The operation of most of the baths in the British army 



582 Canada's Sons in the World War 

was undertaken by the sanitary officers in combination with the 
Ordnance Corps. 

THE CANADIAN DENTAL CORPS 

There would be little purpose in issuing certain of the army 
rations to men if their teeth were in such a bad state that they 
could not masticate it properly. Sound teeth are essential to 
good health and never more so than amid the hardships of active 
service. Men with bad teeth and therefore incapable of masti- 
cating army rations have always been rejected by army medical 
officers. It was therefore vital that there should be a dental system 
capable of undertaking elaborate and scientific dental work. The 
Canadian Army Dental Corps, co-operating with the C. A. M. C, 
not only put our men's teeth in good condition but maintained 
them in that condition. 

In the field decayed and defective teeth were liable to cause 
more serious trouble than to the civilian at home. Cold and wet 
were almost certain to produce ulceration in teeth possessing dead 
nerves. Soldiers suffering from aching teeth or unable to masticate 
their food were of little use to the army until cured. The wastage 
therefore prevented by the million and a quarter dental operations 
performed by the Canadian Army Dental Corps was too obvious 
to require lengthy discussion. 

There were dental clinics in all the Canadian hospitals in 
England. At Orpington Military Hospital there was a special 
clinic for men whose jaws had been badly shattered. The jaw was 
set and artificial teeth adjusted so that the patient's outlook on 
life was brightened by the prospect of escaping unsightly dis- 
figurement and enjoying his meals once more. 

AMBULANCES AND CLEARING STATIONS 

Among the chiefs at British General Headquarters was the 
Director-General of Medical Services of the British army in the 
field. He and his deputy issued all the general orders affecting 
the health of the British army on the western front. 

The casualty clearing stations and the mobile laboratories 
were under the D. M. S. of the army, who was responsible for the 
clearing of the hospitals by motor ambulance convoys and by 
hospital train. 



The Canadian Army Medical Corps 583 

There were normally three field ambulances to each division 
and one casualty clearing station. 

The system which enabled a sick or wounded man to be removed 
from the front was simple enough. Each day the battahon medical 
officer, located in a dug-out in the trenches, perhaps, or in the 
cellar of a house not far behind the trenches, held a ^'sick parade'' 
at his '^regimental aid post." During a battle the wounded were 
collected by the regimental stretcher bearers and brought to the 
aid post. 

Any soldier feeling unwell reported to the M. 0. of the battaHon 
who, if the trouble was a minor one, gave him some suitable medicine. 
If the man showed serious symptoms or was wounded he was sent 
back to the '^advanced dressing station" which would probably 
be a mile or so behind the front line trenches, if possible in a house, 
and on a road accessible to motor ambulances. 

If the man could walk he went back through the nearest 
communication trench; if imable to walk he was helped or carried 
back by the ambulance stretcher bearers to the dressing station. 

Some of the dressing stations taking in wounded imder shell 
fii'e were located in shell-proof dugouts. At many points light 
narrow-gauge railroads had been built which ran from the dressing 
stations right up to the trenches. On these railways httle cars 
pushed by hand were used both for bringing out the wounded 
during a battle and for taking in food, water and other suppUes. 

The cases which accumulated at the advanced dressing station 
were given any further treatment required and evacuated by 
motor ambulance to the field ambulance proper. 

From the field ambulance the sick and wounded were cleared 
by motor ambulance convoy to the casualty clearing station, or 
possibly in cases of tired or shghtly shell-shocked officers and men, 
to the rest stations or convalescent hospitals, of which there were 
a nimiber well behind the firing line. 

At the casualty clearing station the men were checked over, 
their wounds re-dressed, operations performed, and all the work 
done necessary to enable the men to be passed on to the base 
hospital by hospital train or barge. These clearing stations, of 
which there were usually three or more in a toT\Ti, could keep 
serious cases until it was deemed advisable to send them on. 

While one clearing station was filling up and treating the 



584 Canada's Sons in the World War 

patients, the other would be sending all possible treated cases 
down the line. From the base hospitals near the sea the men were 
torwarded as soon as advisable by hospital ships for distribution 
among the hospitals of England. 

While a battle was in progress the men passed through the 
system so rapidly that those wounded one morning were often in 
a hospital in Engiand the next morning. 

The medical officer, of course, was attached to the battaHon, 
and went everywhere with it; under him were the battaHon stretcher 
bearers who gathered up the woimded. The advanced dressing 
station was merely an advanced section of the field ambulance 
which itself was divided into three sections, each of which could 
operate independently according to the nature of the country. 
Each ambulance was self-contained, having its own transport, and 
by using tents could work in areas without houses or other shelter. 

The casualty clearing station, on the other hand, having an 
estabhshed capacity of nearly six hundred beds, had much heavier 
equipment and was not supposed to be a mobile imit, though it was 
capable of moving with the aid of its two lorries by making repeated 
trips. Many of the casualty clearing stations were located in huts 
which could be torn down and moved forward and rebuilt by the 
engineers and construction imits. 

There was also in each division a sanitary section composed of 
one officer and twenty-five men whose function it was to keep an 
eye on the sanitation of the divisional area, report failiu-e on the 
part of units to observe the estabhshed sanitary regulations, see 
that the incinerators were operated, have new sources of drinking 
water tested, look after the bath-houses on occasion, search for 
cases of tj^hoid fever, etc., among the civihan population, and, 
in general, make itself as useful as possible. 

The British army regulations are such that each officer and 
man must be a sanitarian and must not only observe the regulations 
but see that others do the same; the principle underlying this 
system being that ^^if each before his doorstep swept the village 
would be clean.'' Consequently it was not left to the sanitary 
section to clean up a divisional area, but rather to report those 
responsible for not keeping it clean. In this way every man was 
made a responsible party, for if the officers of any unit saw that 
the regulations were enforced by each man, the unit would be a 
sanitary one. 



The Canadian Army Medical Corps 585 

» 

Naturally as the battalion M. 0. was directly connected T\dth 
the field ambulance to which he sent his cases, he was most interested 
in the efficiency of that unit. Since the field ambulances were 
imder the direct supervision of the A. D. M. S. of the divi- 
sion, the latter, during a battle, was found visiting these to see 
that they were operating smoothly and to see whether enough 
motor ambulances, stretchers, suppHes or other necessities were 
being provided. 

At the same time the D. M. S. of the army would be foimd 
visiting the casualty clearing stations, and seeing that the evacu- 
ation of the woimded by train was working smoothly. 

The hospital trains were specially fitted up vrith. beds, kitchens 
and dispensaries, and with nurses and a medical officer in charge. 

The hospital barges of the ordinary flat-bottomed, square- 
ended, Dutch type were wide enough to allow of two rows of beds 
with an aisle do^n the middle. The medical officer's surgery and 
bedroom were at one end of the barge, while the nurses' quarters 
were at the other. 

In the British army there were specialists of renown in medicine 
and surgery who were supposed to supervise the medical and 
surgical work of a certain given a^ea. They travelled about, inves- 
tigating everything that was of particular interest, acted as advisers, 
and handed on to field units any special information that had been 
discovered at home or in the field. The consulting surgeons were 
usually to be found during a battle operating where there was the 
greatest need of skilled surgery. 

Besides the sanitary officer of each di\dsion there was a sanitary 
officer for each army, and a chief sanitary officer for the whole 
expeditionary force. These were all in touch \sdth the sanitary 
adviser at the base and the authorities in England. Since, under 
war conditions, new developments were always taking place in 
medicine and sanitation, the knowledge gained of practical value 
filtered through to the army by these channels as well as through 
the scientffic journals. 

WAEDING OFF EPIDEMICS 

Those killed in battle have in all previous wars constituted 
but a small fraction of the dead. Disease and pestilence have 
always been responsible for the vast majority of deaths in any of 
the great wars of history. In the present great war 6.396,504 men 



586 Canada's Sons in the World War 

are known to have been killed. These figures are admittedly 
incomplete and the final total will probably indicate that approxi- 
mately 10,000,000 men laid down their lives. 

This is by no means the total loss due to the war, for milHons 
of civihans have died in France, Belgium, Russia, Poland, Serbia, 
Germany and Austro-Hungry from over-work, starvation, diseases 
and Hun barbarities. Nor can the reckoning even be made of 
those who died from exposure and broken hearts. Every day at 
the present time thousands of helpless men, women and little children 
are djdng somewhere in Europe and Asia from sheer starvation as a 
direct result of the devastations of war. In the years to come 
thousands of children who may survive the famine period, following 
the war, will die as a result of constitutional weaknesses brought on 
now by malnutrition. 

Yet during the five years of war there have been no great 
epidemics of disease in the chief warring countries except in Serbia 
and Russia. Diseases, like typhus fever, typhoid fever, and cholera 
which devastated armies in former wars, practically played no part 
in reducing the strength of the armies. Science, which has done 
so much to make war more hideous, more brutal, and more devas- 
tating, through the development of new explosives, arms and poison 
gases, has succeeded in controlling the spread of almost every 
epidemic disease. Science, which has improved the methods of 
killing, has far more than offset the total losses by wonderful 
improvements in methods of saving fife. 

It is only when we see the results of an uncontrollable epidemic 
like influenza, which swept over the world at the close of the war, 
that we reaHze what we have been saved from in having been able 
to control most of the other epidemic diseases. Influenza is one 
of the few epidemic diseases which has, as yet, not been brought 
under control. Doubtless, Hke most other epidemic diseases, it will 
soon be curbed, but that time is not yet. It is only by comparisons 
that we reahze what a terrible toll an uncontrollable disease can 
exact. It took foiu* years of modern warfare to cause the deaths 
of 6,396,000 men at a total cost of $160,000,000,000, yet in the 
last three months of 1918, an epidemic of influenza, sweeping over 
the world, caused the death of about 8,000,000 people. The deaths 
in India alone have been estimated at 5,000,000; in the South Sea 
Islands people died in large numbers and had to be buried in piles. 



The Canadian Army Medical Corps 587 

In Mexico the deaths reached 450,000 and in the United States and 
Canada the total deaths must have been over 500,000. And all 
this in a period of three months. 

With armies of miUions of men crowded together in the field 
and with whole nations working at concert pitch to keep those 
armies fed and equipped, we can guess what would have happened 
had cholera, bubonic plague, typhoid fever, malaria, relapsing fever 
and typhus fever run riot as they did during former wars. The 
world would have been a great shambles and civiHzation would 
have been set back a century. 

The history of war has always been a history of epidemics. 
The fact that in an army men are crowded together makes it easy 
for all communicable diseases, once introduced, to spread with 
great rapidity. And because soldiers are always associated with the 
civihan population, it means that such diseases are readily com- 
municated from the army to the civiHans, and from the civihans 
to the army. It is therefore apparent that during a war, disease, 
unless quickly checked, may run like wildfire through a country, 
and be disseminated far and wide by soldiers returning to and 
from their own homes or other distant places while on leave. 

Advance is made in our knowledge of how diseases are spread 
and controlled, particularly through recent studies in bacteriology 
and immunity, have made it possible to keep communicable dis- 
eases in absolute subjection. The lack of epidemic disease in the 
army in the late war was one of the marvels of the age. This is 
particularly striking in view of our experiences in other recent wars. 
For example, in the Boer War the British losses through typhoid 
fever alone were 8,000 against 7,700 killed by bullets, shells and 
other agencies. 

With some knowledge of sanitation and medicine it is easy 
to see how most epidemic diseases can be held in check. Put 
briefly, it means that the medical and sanitary organization must 
be such that the germs from an infected soldier are prevented from 
reaching any other soldier. 

The methods employed were simple; the carrying out of the 
methods was oftentimes very difficult. 

It was obviously essential to remove every suspected case of 
disease from the army as soon as possible after he had been diag- 
nosed. This meant that the medical ofl&cers had to be always on 



588 Canada's Sons in the World War 

the lookout for symptoms of fever rash or other signs of disease 
among their men. In the British army this was one of the most 
important factors in the control of epidemics. A man suspected of 
having any communicable disease was instantly placed under 
quarantine until the diagnosis had been confirmed, after which he 
was removed from the army area altogether as a possible focus of 
infection. The wonderful record of the British army in its freedom 
from contagious disease proved that the methods employed were 
absolutely sound. 

This was practically the only way of stamping out diseases 
such as measles and scarlet fever, which cannot be diagnosed by 
bacteriological methods. 

Great Britain was fortunate above all other nations in that 
the army sent over to France at the beginning consisted of regular 
troops, perfectly equipped from the medical standpoint as well as 
IX every other way. Efforts had been made for years to remove 
^hoid carriers from the regular army and the soldiers had practi- 
cally all been vaccinated against smallpox and inoculated against 
typhoid fever. 

As each new division was sent into the field it was completely 
equipped with sanitary squad, casualty clearing stations, field 
ambulances, water carts, disinfectors and necessary medical stores. 
Consequently as the army grew and expanded into a huge force it 
was thoroughly equipped with the apparatus necessary for caring 
for the sick and wounded and had the benefit of the experience 
acquired by those already in the field. In this way the British 
army differed from aU our European AUies who upon general 
mobilization found themselves woefully lacking in medical equip- 
ment and personnel. 

ReaHzing that the medical equipment of the British was com- 
plete; that the army had been sent into the field free from com- 
municable diseases; that it had been vaccinated and inoculated 
against two of the most dreaded diseases, smallpox and typhoid 
fever, and that every re-enforcement subsequent sent out had been 
carefully freed from suspicious cases of disease, it will be readily 
understood that the British army began under most auspicious 
circumstances, and that thereafter its freedom from contagious 
disease depended to a great extent on the preventive measures 
adopted. 



The Canadian Army Medical Corps 589 

It was impossible, however, to prevent our soldiers billeted in 
France from occasionally contracting communicable diseases from 
the French civilian population, and it was obvious that as there 
were from three to five per cent of the soldiers uninoculated 
against typhoid fever, we were bound to get some cases of typhoid. 

Besides this, imless further precautions were taken, the army 
would be susceptible to disease such as cholera, dysentery and the 
like should there be cases of these in the war zone. 

And, since there might be some ''carriers'' and undiagnosed 
cases of disease among soldiers and civilians excreting disease 
germs, additional means were necessary to destroy such germs before 
they could reach other soldiers. This was the place where sani- 
tation and hygiene stepped in, and it was in these matters that the 
army of Great Britain was unexcelled by any army in the field. 

As water supplies were hable to be contaminated, it was the 
rule to steriHze all water used for drinking purposes, either by 
boiling, by the use of bisulphate of soda, or by chlorine. The 
chlorine method, suggested by the writer in 1909, was the one in 
general use in the British army, as it was in all the other alUed 
armies, and made it possible to steriUze a pail or a barrel of water 
if necessary right in the trenches. Small tablets of hypo-chlorite 
of lime, each one capable of steriHzing a pail of water, were also 
ordered and issued to the first Canadian division, and proved useful. 

The great bulk of the water supply, however, was sterihzed 
directly in the water carts by adding one or two spoonsful of the 
dry chloride of lime to the partly filled water cart, the mixing 
being done by the addition of the rest of the water and by agitation 
during the trip back to the place where the cart was stationed. 

In addition to this, large mobile filter units, after plans which 
I had draughted in 1914 and officially suggested in 1915 after 
experience in the field, were built and issued to all the British 
armies. These mobile filters were capable of filtering and steriHzing 
large quantities of water and deHvering it to water carts or into 
stand pipes, ready to drink. A check was kept on the efficiency of 
the filtration and steriHzation by the mobile field laboratories. 
Similar filters of a larger capacity were placed in barges and proved 
very useful in France and particularly in the campaign in Meso- 
potamia. 

Dysentery and kindred intestinal diseases in the early campaign 



590 Canada's Sons in the World War 

in Mesopotamia had proved disastrous to the British army, greatly 
reduced its effective fighting strength and showed the necessity of 
such a method of protecting the army drinking water. 

Dr. Hutchinson in his book, ^'The Doctor in War,'' says: 

The English sanitarians have devised one of the most perfect 
machines for transforming any kind of water into a clear, safe, drinkable 
beverage that I have ever seen. It is based upon the chlorination method 
and consists of a group of tanks with an engine and purifying system (of 
filters) mounted upon a large motor truck. . . . The result is so absolutely 
perfect as to give one almost an uncanny sense of magic. The first machine 
I saw was doing a special ''stunt" test. It had dropped its intake into a 
pool of filthy, pea-soup -coloured, stagnant water, covered with green 
scum, which had collected between two refuse heaps at the back of an 
abandoned factory. From its discharge pipe was flowing into a large 
tank a steady stream of clear, sparkling, nice-tastiag water. To look at 
the water in the filthy pool and the clear stream rushing and sparkling 
into the tank, gave one a positive shock. 

The motor weighs about three and a half tons, travels by its own power 
everywhere, can get under way inside of thirty minutes, and can transfer 
the vilest soup into pure drinking-water, at the rate of about a thousand 
gallons an hour. That is to say, one machine is capable of suppl3dng an 
army of ten thousand men. 



CHAPTER XXXIX 
The Social Upheaval FoUowmg the War 

The war shook society to its foundations, but the foundations 
remained soUd because the foundations are in the hearts of 
humanity. It was a great thing to be ahve during the period of 
national deUveries when new nations were being born and old 
illnesses were being cured. To the observer it was most interesting 
to see during the war period the levelling of social barriers, the 
evolution of industrial organizations, the tendency of capital to 
co-operate with labour. The conviction steadily grew among 
thinking people that there were no basic differences between 
workers of hand or brain, the differences were chiefly those due to 
the accident of environment and to education. In the trenches 
where all were on the same level, the chauffeur, the gardener, 
the carpenter showed up just as splendidly as the duke and the cap- 
itahst. And the truth became apparent as in the co-operation of 
the aUied nations that co-operation was far better than antagonism. 

Social forms and institutions eliminated for any period of 
time can never be wholly restored, and after the war it was 
inevitable that there should be greater demands from the workers, 
from those whose lives and property they had shown themselves 
willing to protect. 

Consequently, just as the social and pohtical structure had 
been shaken and modified by the war it was inevitable that the 
economic one should be even more disturbed. The war had created 
certain conditions in which men found greater comfort and ease 
through greater pay. They wanted that condition to continue 
and realized that only through the co-operation of labour, capital 
and the state in controlling the productive processes and eliminating 
the struggle between labour and capital could they obtain a greater 
share of the product of their labour. 

A world-wide series of strikes began in which labour made very 
great demands, many of them equivalent to the virtual right to 
operate the industries. 

(591) 



592 Canada's Sons in the World War 

Capital, already paying high wages, fought hard to retain 
what it had, though it was generally conceded that on account of 
the high cost of Hving workmen were not any better off than they 
had been with lower wages and when cost of hving was low. 

One of the results of the war was the immediate prominence 
gained by labour organizations. The workers had reahzed their 
power and were anxious to obtain all possible concessions while 
the time was opportune. 

The International Labour Commission, consisting of fifteen 
members representing Great Britain, the United States, France, 
Italy, Japan, Belgium, Cuba, Poland and Czechoslovakia, made 
pubhc its report on April 3, 1919. 

The report contained a draft convention creating a permanent 
organization for promoting international regulation of labour 
conditions, recommended an international labom* conference and 
detailed labour terms to be inserted in the Peace Treaty. The 
preamble to the report read: 

Conditions of labour exist involving such injustice, hardship, and 
privation to large numbers of people as to produce unrest so great that 
the peace and harmony of the world is imperiled, and the improvement 
of those conditions is urgently requested, as, for example, by regulation 
of hours of work, including the establishment of a maximum workiag 
day and week, regulation of labour supply, prevention of unemployment, 
provision of an adequate living wage, protection of the worker against 
sickness, disease, and injury arising out of his employment, the protection 
of children and young persons and women, provision for old age and 
injury, protection of interests of workers when employed in other coun- 
tries than their own, recognition of the principle of freedom of association, 
and organizing of technical, vocational, educational and other measures. 

It was viewed as indispensable that a permanent labour 
organization to remedy industrial evils and injustice be estab- 
hshed. The International Labour Conference is to meet at least 
once a year and to consist of four representatives from each state, 
including two representatives from the Government, one from the 
employers and one from the workers. 

A clause incorporated in the report recognized the principle 
of self-determination in labour questions. This clause provided 
that ^'no recommendation or draft convention shall in any case 
be accepted or applied so as to diminish the protection already 
accorded to workers by the existing laws of any of the high con- 



The Social Upheaval Following the War 593 

tracting parties. '^ The intention of this clause was stated to be 
the safeguarding of legislation already in efifect in any countiy 
which might be regarded by that country as better for the workers 
than that recommended by the Labour Bureau. The Laboiu* 
Bureau definitely decided that the findings of the bureau must be 
supported by moral suasion in countries where special problems 
exist, rather than by invoking any force which the League of 
Nations might offer. Recommendations embodied in the report 
included the following: 

Limitation was recommended of the hours of work in industry on 
the basis of eight hours per day and forty-eight hours per week, subject 
to exception in countries in which climatic conditions, imperfect develop- 
ment of industrial organization, or other special circumstances, render the 
industrial efficiency of the workers substantially different. The Interna- 
tional Labour Conference was to recommend a basis approximately 
equivalent to the above for the adoption of such countries. 

Great Britain was the first aUied country after the war to 
experience labour imrest and a great reaction set in during which 
huge preparations were made for strikes. As usual in England, 
however, both parties were rolling in the final showdown to com- 
promise and no great strike occurred. 

Great Britain's industrial crisis was adjusted without a strike 
by a conference between employers and employed at which far- 
reaching recommendations were agreed to and subsequently 
accepted by the Government to be enacted into law. It was the 
most serious situation that ever confronted the industries of the 
country, involving aU the mining, engineering, machinist and 
transportation interests. Among the more important recom- 
mendations which the conference asked the Government to pledge 
themselves to carry out and which were assented to were the 
following: 

1. The setting up of a permanent National Industrial Council of 
400 representatives of employers and unions to advise the Government 
on industrial questions. 

2. Enactment of a forty-eight-hour week, wdth certaia necessarj^ 
exceptions. 

3. The establishment of national minimum wage rates. 

4. Special payment for all overtime, where overtime is necessar\\ 

5. Recognition of trade unions and employers' associations in indus- 
trial negotiations. 



594 Canada's Sons in the World War 

6. Unemployment pay should be more adequate, and should be 
extended to cover underemployment. Old-age pensions and sickness 
benefits should be more generous. 

Unrest throughout the British Empire showed itself in the 
uprising in Egypt in which British soldiers and officials were killed. 
The Nationalist party showed that it had the backing of a large 
section of the community. 

On the night of March 14th to 15th riots broke out in Cairo, 
Alexandria, and other Egyptian cities, while some formidable 
revolts took place at the towns up the Nile, where rail and tele- 
graphic comLULunication was broken. Much private and public 
property was destroyed. Investigation showed that the dis- 
turbances were due to the Egyptian Nationalist, or Independent, 
leaders acting on the instigation of agents of the Committee of 
Union and Progress, whose headquarters had been dispersed at 
Constantinople through the efforts of the Interallied Commission 
there. Many of these leaders were arrested, but not until several 
lives had been lost. 

Serious disturbances also occurred in India and Afghanistan 
dimng April and May. Recent legislation incorporated in the 
Rowlatt acts and intended to combat seditious conspiracy was 
partially responsible for the trouble. Various riots occuiTed at 
Lahore, Bombay, Calcutta and elsewhere. 

EEVOLUTION IN GERMANY 

Throughout Germany, even before the armistice, there were 
signs of revolution everywhere. The part that Bolshevism played 
in exciting the German people is now beginning to receive its due 
recognition. Dr. Cohin, Under-Secretary of State in the Depart- 
ment of Justice, has publicly admitted receiving money from the 
Bolshevist Ambassador to carry on propaganda work to further 
revolution in Germany. 

General Hoffmann, former Chief of Staff of Germany's eastern 
army and signer of the Brest-Litovsk Treaty, said in an interview 
that Germany was not beaten on the western front but by an 
upstart named Lenine. Making peace with Russia, he said, was 
suicide, though they did not know it at the time, for their victorious 
eastern army became infected with Bolshevism, while thousands 
of Bolshevists entered Germany and undermined its morale. 



The Social Upheaval Following the War 595 

Towards the end of the Peace Conference, strikes and rumours 
of strikes, revolutions and rumors of revolutions poured from 
Germany. Hunger, unemployment, Bolshevist propaganda, delay 
in making peace and the breakdown of the national discipline, all 
played their part in bringing about disintegration in Germany. 

In Berlin a serious attempt was made by the Spartacus group, 
under Dr. Liebknecht and Rosa Luxemburg, to overthrow the 
Ebert Government and institute mob rule in Berlin. By a sudden 
stroke, designed to prevent the holding of the general election 
on January 19th, the Spartacans secured control of a number of 
the buildings in Berlin, including the postoffice and five news- 
paper offices. There was a great deal of street fighting in which a 
considerable number of people were killed, but the Ebert Govern- 
ment succeeded in maintaining the upper hand. Later on Lieb- 
knecht and Rosa Luxembiu-g were killed. 

Serious riots occurred at Frankfort-on-the-Main on March 31st. 
A general strike occurred at Stuttgart of workers followed by one 
of the bourgeoise. Other strikes occurred in Berlin, Kastrop, 
Dortmend and elsewhere. In Bavaria the sociahst government was 
having its own troubles, for Spartacans demanded its removal 
and the establishment of unbridled communism. On April 7th 
Bavaria was proclaimed a Soviet RepubHc by the Revolutionary 
Central Council at Munich, and everything was declared the 
property of the community. 

The NationaHst Government of Berlin refused to recognize 
any but the Hoffmann Government of Bavaria and the latter carried 
on. At Munich the People's Commissioners Government was 
overthrown by the Communists and a new Central Council of ten 
was appointed, presided over by a bricklayer. At Wurzburg 
the second army declared for the Hoffmann Government and 
attacked the communists. 

In Brunswick, Eichhorn, formerly the Chief of PoUce of Berlin, 
was a leading spirit among the Spartacans. Danzig was in the 
depths of an industrial strike with the object of affihating vnih 
Russia. In Saxony the War Minister was thrown into the Elbe 
and shot, as he attempted to swim ashore, by wounded soldier 
patients. 

The extraordinary situation was seen of three governments — 
the Constitutional Hoffmann Government, the Soviet and Com- 



596 Canada's Sons in the World War 

miinist governments — contesting for Munich over a period of 
several days. 

SECOND REVOLUTION IN HUNGARY 

The Provisional Government of the Hungarian Republic, of 
which Coimt Karolyi was President, was overturned on Friday, 
March 21, 1919, by the Communist revolutionary element at 
Budapest imder Russian Bolshevist leadership. President Karolyi 
handed over the reins of power to the Soviet leaders without a 
struggle, ascribing his act to the Allies^ treatment of Himgary 
after the armistice. 

The following view of the revolution and its personnel was 
given by Dr. Gonstantine Brown, a British correspondent, who 
had just returned from investigating conditions in Hungary and 
other East European countries, and who wrote on April 9th: 

''What has happened is that, despairing of finding any other 
remedy, Karolyi turned Bolshevist in the hope of preserving his 
country intact. He connived at revolution, while to the outward 
Entente world he professed himseK powerless to resist it. In 
Bela Kun, the present Foreign Gommissary of the Hungarian 
Soviet Republic, and in Dr. Rakovsky, the renegade Rumanian 
and one-time German agent, he found two admirable accom- 
plices. These are the two men with whom General Smuts dis- 
cussed the basis of agreement in Budapest. 

''Bela Kun is a man of education and a certain cultm*e, and 
among the zealots who profess the anarchistic creed of Lenine and 
Trotzky would be classed as a moderate. His political outlook at 
present does not take him beyond the confines of Hungary. He 
proclaims that at present, as far as he is personally concerned, 
the rest of the world may be well content if he achieves by his 
own pecuKar methods the complete political and social liberation 
of Hungary. 

"Rakovsky, on the other hand, dreams of and works for 
the complete Soviet subjugation of Southeastern and Western 
Europe. He is pledged to carry the banner of Bolshevism in 
triumph from the Transylvania Alps to the Danube delta, and 
from Budapest to Paris. Radovsky was always a noted poHtical 
firebrand and is unquestionably a whole-hogger. Bom a Bul- 
garian, he became violently anti-Bulgarian when Bulgaria was 



The Social Upheaval Following the War 597 

beaten in the Balkan war and his native town passed under the 
Rumanian flag. 

''Arrested as a German spy, he was rescued from prison in 
Rumania by Russian revolutionary soldiers. Then he engineered 
the plot for removing the Rumanian King ajid his consort. It 
failed, so Rakovsky shpped over the Rumanian frontier and became 
Bolshevist High Commissionery at Odessa, and the Russian Soviet 
Government afterward appointed him its Minister to Hungary. '' 

COMMUNIST PROCLAMATIONS 

The new Government issued the following proclamation on 
March 22d: 

The proletariat of Hungary from today has taken aU power in its 
own hands. By the decision of the Paris Conference to occupy Hungary', 
the provisioning of revolutionary Hungary becomes utterly impossible. 
Under these circumstances the sole means open for the Hungarian Gov- 
ernment is a dictatorship of the proletariat. 

Legislative, executive and judicial authority will be exercised by a 
dictatorship of the Workers^ Peasants' and Soldiers' Councils. The 
Revolutionary Government Coimcil will begin forthwith work for the 
realization of communist socialism. 

The council decrees the socialization of large estates, mines, big 
industries, banks and transport lines, declares complete solidarity with 
the Russian Soviet Government, and offers to contract an armed aUiance 
with the proletariat of Russia. 

A further proclamation, sent out by the new Government by 
wireless, invited the workmen and peasants of Bohemia, Rumania, 
Serbia and Croatia to form an armed aUiance against the aris- 
tocracy, landowners and dynasties, and urged the workmen of 
Austria and Germany to follow the lead of Hungary in breaking 
off relations with the Paris Peace Conference. 

Martial law was proclaimed. A ^e of 5,000 crocus was 
fixed for the sale of alcohoHc liquor and 10,000 crowns for drink- 
ing it. It was decided to aboHsh all titles of rank, to separate the 
church from the state, to dismiss all commissioners of the Karolyi 
Government and to invite Workmen^s Councils to select director- 
ates of four members each to replace them. 

MISSION OF GENERAL SMUTS 

The Entente Powers in session at Paris decided to send Gen- 
eral Jan Christian Smuts to Budapest with power to negotiate a 



598 Canada's Sons in the World War 

new armistice and to reach an understanding, if possible, with the 
new Hungarian Government. General Smuts left Paris on April 
2d after a consultation with the Council of Four, and on April 
4th made certain proposals. 

The Government repUed to General Smuts, thanking him for 
his civility, but declaring that the conditions presented were 
inacceptable, except as an order to those who might be inclined 
to assume the Government of the country on such terms. 

Dr. Benes, Foreign Minister of Czecho-Slovakia, issued the 
following statement in the London Times: 

The complete " Bolshevization^ ' of Central Europe may be regarded 
as a real menace. At Berlin, in Saxony, and in Bavaria Spartacism is 
very dangerous. At Budapest Magyar Bolshevism has triumphed com- 
pletely; at Vienna there is already a demand for imitation of Himgary. 
In my opinion Poland also will not entirely escape. Thus, bit by bit, 
Bohemia, the chief industrial country of Central Europe, is becoming 
threatened with complete isolation from Western Europe and with the 
loss of all chance of being revictualed by the Allies. Our working classes 
are numerous, and if they are not fed it is very probable that they might 
faU a prey to Bolshevism. That is the present situation of my 
country 

The national and social side of this Bolshevist movement is more 
interesting still. Those responsible for this war, the Germans, Austrians 
and Magyars, see today what the Peace Conference is preparing, and they 
see that its decisions will inevitably hit those who provoked the world 
war. Austria- Hungary and Turkey will be broken up and their oppressed 
peoples will be Hberated . From the financial and economic point of view 
the authors of the war will be obHged to repair the damage they have 
caused. Thus justice overtakes them. 

To escape these consequences they cling to Bolshevism for salvation. 
They tell them selves they have nothing to lose, either from the territorial 
or the social point of view, because they are aheady ruined pohtically 
and economically. Hungary is the most striking example of this poHcy. 
Some time back Count Karolyi himseK threatened the Allies that Himgary 
would submit to a Bolshevist regime if her territory were not left intact. 
Today she is executing this threat. She is blackmailing, as the Magyars 
have always done. It is clearly impossible to give way to this threat, 
more especially since tomorrow Germany wiQ try to follow Hungary's 
example when she is called upon to sign the preliminary peace treaty. 

EVENTS IN AUSTRIA 

The exile of the house of Hapsburg-Lothringens, which had 
ruled for a thousand years was an occurrence full of significance, 



The Social Upheaval Following the War 599 

for with it went all the rights and privileges of the royal family 
forever, together with eternal banishment. 

Bolshevism did not seem to gain ground in German Austria 
in spite of desperate efforts of the new Soviet Repubhc in Hungary 
and the desperate food conditions prevailing in the country itself. 
Even the Soldiers' and Workmen's Councils in Vienna decided 
against a Soviet Government in favour of a Socialist RepubUc. 

The expulsion of the Hungarian agitators at the request of 
the Entente, the announcement that food supplies would be sent 
forthwith, and the decision of the Soldiers' and Workmen's Coun- 
cils prevented a possible outbreak of Bolshevism. 

BOLSHEVISM IN CANADA 

When the armistice was signed the social and industrial organ- 
zations of the world appeared to have suddenly become dislocated. 
It was largely the result of the sudden reappearance of numberless 
reforms, which had been under consideration before the war, now 
demanding consideration and, backed up by labour, which reaHzed 
its full strength and the power of its organization. Fear stalked 
openly through the world. Bolshevist propaganda had been sown 
broadcast over the face of the earth. Everywhere there was labour 
unrest, strikes and dissatisfaction. At first glance it appeared as 
though discharged soldiers were responsible for the trouble, but 
this was only the impression of those who spoke without iuvestiga- 
tion. The returned soldier had very clear ideas as to the necessity 
for the reorganization of society but his methods were not anarch- 
istic. He believed in employing legal methods and bringing pressure 
to bear on governments, of which he had now absolutely no fear, 
in order to obtain legitimate reforms. 

The people originally responsible for the spread of Bolshevist 
literature were foreigners and at first largely Russian. In Canada 
the press was full of references to troubles arising out of the activities 
of adherents to the Bolshevist idea. Careful investigation showed 
that the tentacles of Bolshevist propaganda were extending to the 
four quarters of the earth and that it had set itself the task of 
tearing to pieces the very fabric of modern life in every country 
under the sun. 

In Canada a bold, systematic and dangerous effort was made 
to taint the community from coast to coast with the poisonous 



600 Canada's Sons in the World War 

philosophy. Dominion Order in Council of October 1, 1918, had 
placed the following societies in Canada under the ban: 

Industrial Workers of the World, 
Russian Social Democratic Party, 
Russian Revolutionary Group, 
Russian Social Revolutionists, 
Russian Workers' Union, 
Ukrainian Revolutionary Group, 
Ukrainian Social Democratic Party, 
Social Democratic Party, 
Social Labour Party, 
Group of Social Democrats of Bolsheviki, 
Group of Social Democrats of Anarchists, 
Workers' International Industrial Union, 
Chinese NationaHst League, 
Chinese Labour Association. 

It was learned that specimens of all these organizations existed 
in Canada. It is hard to say where innocence ends and guilt begins 
in any social organization. 

FAMINE AND ANAECHY 

Mr. Hoover, who had been placed in charge of the feeding of 
the enemy nations, came to the conclusion, after investigation, 
that the spread of Bolshevism into Germany was due to hunger 
and could be prevented by a food barrage. This view of the sub- 
ject was widely accepted in the United States. President Wilson, 
in urging the appropriation of $100,000,000 for food relief in 
Europe, said: 

^'Food rehef is now the key to the whole Eiu'opean situation 
and to the solution of peace. Bolshevism is steadily advancing 
westward and poisoning Germany. It cannot be stopped by 
force, but it can be stopped by food.'' 

An American correspondent in Paris wired: '* There is no 
stronger ally of Bolshevism than starvation. Food, work and the 
prospect of normal social conditions are the prophylactic . . . 
anarchy and Bolshevism are the natural sequence of famine, 
disease and despair." 

There is Httle doubt that famine leads to social anarchy, but 



The Social Upheaval Following the War 601 

it must be remembered that anarchists flom*ish in the United 
States in labour organizations, which are composed of well-paid 
workers. It is not lack of food that makes all men rebellious, 
but rather the feehng that they are the catspaw of another class 
which by their labour they make wealthy. The feeling of the 
worker that he is being exploited and has no say, share or partner- 
ship in the system for which he toils and whose success he makes 
possible is at the root of much of labour trouble; it is the sense 
of injustice under which he smarts. Back of it all is the feeling 
that his earning power is not assured and that, at the whim of 
his employer or through some industrial condition or accident, 
he may be thrown out of work and his income cut off with the 
ensuing consequences of suffering and privation lq his family. 

A new feehng, tremendously fostered and forwarded by the 
war, had come into being. The worker had thoroughly realized 
his power through organization. He had been appealed to, deferred 
to and repeatedly told that he was the backbone of the nation, 
that but for him the Allies would have gone under. He knew that 
it was true. Women and men alike in all classes of society had 
slaved to make the soldier worker happy and comfortable. Every- 
body united in giving freely of their time and money to forward 
the great cause in which the worker was the chief participant. 

With the cessation of war a great fear came upon the workers 
that their period of comfort had come to an end. Dming the war 
there had been plenty of work and everybody had made good 
wages, for which, it is true, they had often worked long hours. 
For the first time millions of people had been able to reahze the 
comfort that could be obtaiaed through the possession of a full 
piu*se. They dreaded going back to the lower wage and the periods 
of out-of-work. 

It was natural then that they should band themselves 
together sohdly to demand that pre-war conditions should never 
again obtain. They demanded war wages or better. They asked 
for shorter hours so that work would be spread over a longer period 
and eliminate sterile areas of idleness. They demanded the nation- 
ahzation of coal mines, railroads and other public utihties, beheving 
this to be both to their own best interest and that of the state, 
for company profits would thereby be eliminated and higher wages 
made possible to employees. 



602 Canada's Sons in the World War 

The strikers in Great Britain were not Bolshevists, though 
their agents and propaganda had doubtless something to do with 
fomenting agitations during the transition period from war to 
peace. 

The origin of Bolshevism, as would be expected, is German, 
The stock phrase, ^Hhe dictatorship of the proletariat," — or the 
absolute control of political power by the working classes, — is 
simply German sociaHsm. Hatred of the boiu*geoise, which we are 
accustomed to think of as pecuHarly Russian, is part of the Marxian 
theory. 

Bolshevism is merely another name for autocracy. 

The fact that the rank and file is composed largely of the 
working classes obsciu-es this fact. Lenine is as great an enemy 
of democracy as the Czar whom his followers miu-dered, and 
Trotzky has shown that he is a far greater danger to hberty than 
Hindenburg or Emperor Wilhelm. The tyranny of Bolshevism is 
far more terrible and more unscrupulous than the autocracy which 
it has displaced. 

The very fact that the Bolshevist reformers believe in the 
dictatorship of the workers indicates the non-democratic nature 
of the programme. Proletariat means the poorest element among 
the city working classes, the men with no property and no capital 
except their hands. 

It is their theory that as the sole creators of wealth they 
should exclusively control all poHtical power. It is purely a class 
movement and is not endorsed by peasants who possess land of 
their own. 

One simple fact will illustrate the argument that Bolshevism 
is a form of autocracy. When the Bolshevists got control in Russia 
they held an election. The election went against them so they 
dispersed the ensuing convention and carried on without reference 
to the will of the people at large. The Emperor Nicholas in his 
palmiest days could not excel that act of autocracy. 

During the Peace Conference it was proposed that the AUies 
should invite Russian representatives to meet in a conference 
with them in an endeavour to straighten out the situation. The 
French Government objected and officially stated its opinion that 
Bolshevism was a permanent danger to peace and civilization. It 
also held that the Government of the Soviet was at war with the 



The Social Upheaval Following the War 603 

Allies. The French Government felt justified in its attitude because 
ia fightiQg agaiDst Bolshevism it felt it was endeavouring to eradi- 
cate a system based on nothing but disorder and crime. Besides, 
Russia owed France huge sums, and the Bolshevists proposed to 
repudiate the debt contracted by the Czarist Government. 

The French Government stated that Bolshevism was the 
tyranny of a very small cHque over the bulk of the nation. There- 
fore, by fighting Bolshevism they would be protecting Russia against 
a minority which also meant protecting civilization from the 
activity of Bolshevist propagandists throughout Europe who had 
already endeavoured to promote anarchy in neutral countries, 
such as Sweden, Spain and Switzerland. 

In viewing such portents as the strikes thi^oughout the world, 
the flying of red flags, the Spartacan revolts in Germany, the 
Mooney and Billings case in America, and labour demands in 
England, it would appear as though the present social order was 
about to undergo a thorough overhauHng. Recognizing the trend 
of affairs many people had been engaged in elaborating and sug- 
gesting schemes which would satisfy the situation. Labour bodies 
and federations have drawn up and suggested reconstruction 
programmes which almost uniformly demand a voice and vote in 
industry, the estabhshment T)f a minimum wage scale, the placing 
of public utiUties under Government control, progressively 
increased taxes of incomes, the discouraging of unused land, the 
prohibition of child labour, and the development of natural 
resoiu'ces by the Government. 



CHAPTER XL. 
The Year of Victory 

The great war ended on November 11, 1918, for, although 
the peace treaties had yet to be made, the terms of the armistice 
made it impossible for the Central Powers to resume hostilities. 
Desultory fighting continued at the end of the year in Russia, where 
small allied forces in the west and large Japanese forces in the far 
east had been forced to intervene by reason of the excesses of the 
Bolshevik government. In Transylvania and Gahcia also the 
rival racial claims of Poles, Ruthenians, Ukrainians and Magyars 
provoked fresh hostilities, which, in addition to the spread of the 
revolutionary movement across Central Europe, after the Imperial 
Powers had collapsed, delayed a complete restoration of peace 
conditions. 

The various armistices which brought the main fighting to a 
conclusion were granted in the following order: 

Bulgaria, September 29th. 

Turkey, October 30th. 

Austria-Hungary, November 3d. 

Germany, November 11th. 

Each armistice imposed terms virtually those of unconditional 
surrender and, except in the case of Turkey, where the Enver Pasha 
Government had already disappeared, the overthrow of the mon- 
archs of the defeated nations followed. 

The principal abdications of the war were: 

Czar Nicholas II of Russia, March 14, 1917. 

King Constantine of Greece, Jime 11, 1917. 

King Ferdinand of Bulgaria, October 6, 1918. 

King Boris of Bulgaria, October 31, 1918. 

Kaiser WUhelm II of Germany, November 10, 1918. 

Kaiser Karl I of Austria, November 13, 1918. 

The new^ Czecho-Slovak Repubhc, which had declared its 
independence on October 21st, was recognized by the AlUes and 
became another beUigerent. 

( 604 ) 



The Year of Victory 605 

The German menace to the AlHes and the world never looked 
more terrible than m the first half of 1918 and its collapse within 
five months came with a most dramatic suddenness. This may be 
best visuahzed by the statement of a few facts. 

March 21st Final German offensive began in France. 

^' 23d Paris bombarded by long-range gun. 

April 14th Appointment of Marshal Foch as Alhed 

Commander-in-Chief. 

May 18th First dayhght air raid on Cologne. 

'^ 30th German armies reached the Marne. 

June 17-20th Austrian offensive against Italy failed. 

July 18th Franco-British coimter-ofi'ensive began on the 

Marne. 

September 13th Americans wipe out St. Mihiel sahent. 

'' 16th AUied offensive in Serbia began. 

*' 19th General Allenby^s main offensive in Palestine 

began. 

" 22d Turkish armies destroyed on Armageddon 

Plain. 

" 29th All Flanders Ridges recaptured. 

October 9th Hindenburg line smashed; Cambrai taken. 

" 17th Lille captured. 

" 20th Belgian coast freed from German occupation. 

November 1st Serbians re-enter Belgrade. 

" 22d King Albert re-enters Brussels. 

" 29th Montenegro united with Serbia. 

December 1st British troops entered German territory. 

" 1st King Ferdinand of Rumania re-entered 

Bucharest. 

" 13th President Wilson landed in France. 

Among other things, the war and the armistice have resulted 
in: The breaking up of the German and Austrian empires into a 
number of states, at present repubhcan; 

The restoration of Alsace-Lorraine to France; 
Th^ reappearance, as a nation, of Poland; 
The setting-up of a new Republic of Czecho-Slovakia and the 
enlargement of Serbia by the inclusion of Montenegro and Bosnia- 
Herzegovina; 

The imion of the unredeemed territories to Italy. 



The War at a Glance 



1914 

Jun« 28 — Assassinations of Archduko and 
Archdurhess of Austria. 

July 23 — Austrian note to Germany Serbia. 

July 28 — Austria declared war on Serbia. 

Aug. 1 — Germany declared war on Russia. 

Aug. 3 — Germany declared war on France 
and Belgium. 

Aug. 4 — England declared war on Ger- 
many. 

Aug. 6 — ^Austria declared war on Russia. 
England landed troops in 
France. 

Aug. 9 — Serbia declared war on Germany. 

Aug. 11 — France declared war on Austria. 

Aug. 12 — England declared war on Austria. 

Aug. 20 — Brussels abandoned. Allied 
retreat begun. 

Aug. 23 — Japan declared war on Germany. 

Aug. 26 — Germans burned Louvain. 

Aug. 28— Battle of Helgoland. 

Aug. 31 — Battle of Tannenburg. 

Sept. 7 — Battle of Marne began. 

Oct. 9 — Germans captured Antwerp. 

Oct. 14 — Canadian troops reach Plymouth. 

Oct. 24 — Germans driven out of Russia. 

Oct. 30 — Russia declared war on Turkey. 

Nov. 1 — Battle of Coronel. 

Nov. 5 — Britain declared war on Turkey. 

Dec. 2 — Belgrade evacuated. 

Dec. 8 — Battle of Falkland Islands. 

Dec. 16 — Bombardment of Hartlepool, Scar- 
borough and Whitby. 

1915. 

Jan. 2 — Russian invasion of Hungary Feb. 

began. 
Jan. 24 — Battle of Dogger Bank. 
Feb. 4 — Germany proclaimed British 

waters a war zone. 
Feb. 10 — Battle of Masurian Lakes. 
Feb. 19 — Anglo-French bombardment of 

Dardanelles forts began. 
Mar. 10 — Battle of Neuve Chapelle. 
Mar. 18 — Irresistible, Ocean and Bouvet 

sunk in Dardanelles. 
Mar. 22 — Austria ns captured Przemysl. 
Mar. 23 — Allied troops landed at GallipoU. 
April 22 — Germans first used poison gas at 

second battle of Ypres. 
May 7 — Lusitania sunk. 
M&,y 23 — Italy declared war on Austria. 
June 3 — Russian defeat at Przemysl. 
June 14 — Russians lost 16,500 prisoners. 
June 22 — Russians evacuated Lemberg. 
Aug. 4 — Gemiians captured Warsaw. 
Aug. 13 — Royal Edward sunk. 
Aug. 21 — Italy declared war on Turkey. 
Aug. 25 — Germans captured Brest-Litovsk. 
Sept. 25 — Allies started Champagne drive. 
Oct. 6 — Allies landed at Salonika. 



Oct. 12— Edith Cavell shot. 

Oct. 14 — Bulgaria declared war on Serbia. 

Oct. 15-19 — Italy, France, England and 

Russia declared war on Bulgaria. 
Dec. 1 — British army retreated to Kut-el- 

Amara. 
Dec. 19 — Alhed troops began evacuation of 

GallipoH. 



Jan. 
Feb. 

Feb. 
Mar. 

April 
April 

May 
June 
June 

July 
July 
Aug. 
Oct. 

Oct. 
Dec. 



Jan. 



Feb. 
Mar. 
Mar. 
April 

April 
April 
May 
May 
May 
May 

June 

Aug. 
Aug. 
Sept. 
Sept. 

Oct. 
Oct. 

Nov. 
Nov. 



1916 

8 — Last Gallipoli positions evacuated. 
14 — All single men in Britain called to 

colors. 
21 — Germans began attack on Verdun. 
9-16 — Germany and Austria declared 

war on Portugal. 
24 — Irish revolt began. 
29 — British troops at Kut-el-Amara 

surrendered. 
31 — Battle of Jutland. 
5 — Kitchener and staff drowned. 
11 — Great Russian victory over Aus- 

trians. 
1 — First Allied Somme drive began. 
28 — Captain Fryatt shot. 
27 — Rumania declared war on Austria. 
18 — German submarine raid off New 

York. 
22 — Constanza, Rumania, captured. 
12 — First German peace proposal. 

1917 

31 — Germany announced unrestricted 
submarine sinkings in pre- 
scribed zone. 
3 — United States severed diplomatic 
relations with Germany. 
24 — British recaptured Kut-el-Amara. 
11 — British captured Bagdad. 
14 — Russian revolution broke out. 
6 — United States declared war on 

Germany. 
13 — Canadians took Vimy Ridge. 
16 — French victory in Champagne. 
12 — British broke Hindenburg line. 
14 — Italians crossed the Isonzo. 
18 — United States first draft called up. 
24 — First United States combatants 

arrived in France. 
27 — First United States Contingent 
arrived in France. 
1 — ^Pope appealed for peace. 
2 — General Russian retreat began. 
3 — Germans captured Riga. 
16 — Kerensky declared Russia a repub- 
lic. 
4 — British Flanders drive again. 
25 — Italan defeat and retreat again. 
6 — Passchendaele Ridge captured. 
8 — Bolsheviki seizes Russian Govern- 
ment, 



(606) 



The War at a Glance 



607 



191 7 — Continued 

Nov. 21 — British drive on Cambrai began. 
Dec. 3 — Negotiations for Brest-Litovsk 

treaty began. 
Dec. 6 — Halifax disaster. 
Dec. 10 — British captured Jerusalem. 
Dec. 11 — United States declared war on 

Austria-Hungary, 

1918 

Feb. 7 — Tuscania sunk. 

Feb. 11 — Bolsheviki declared war with 
Central Powers at an end. 

Mar. 14 — German troops occupied Odessa. 

Mar. 21 — Germans began drive in Picardy. 

Mar. 28 — Marshal Foch named Generalissi- 
mo. 

April 1 — Germans' new drive halted before 
Amiens. 

April 23 — British naval raid on Zeebrugge. 

April 26 — Germans captured Kemmel Hill. 

May 27 — Germans gained important \'ictory 
between Soissons and Rheims. 

June 19-23 — Italians threw Austrians back 
across Piave. 

July 10 — Franco-British campaign in Al- 
bania commences. 

July 18 — Foch begins drive on Soissons — 
Rheims Sahent. 

Aug. 5 — German armies reach Vesle River 
in retreat. 

Aug. 8 — Canadian troops co-operate in 
drive above Montdidier. 

Aug, 14 — Eimslie appointed command Can- 
adian Siberian battalion. 

Aug. 17 — Germans retreat beyond Albert. 

Aug. 21 — British gain ten miles beyond 
Arras. 

Aug. 27 — Hindenburg line pierced. 

Aug. 29 — French take Noyon. 

Aug. 30 — Drocourt-Queant switch pene- 
trated. 

Aug. 31 — Bailleul captured. 

Sept. 1-5 — Germans retreat in Flanders, 
abandoning Kemmel. 

Sept. 12 — Ex-Czarina of Russia and 
daughters reported murdered. 

Sept. 12 — Americans drive in St. Mihiel 
Salient. 

Sept. 15 — Austria asks for peace discussion. 

Sept. 16 — Wilson refuses Austria's sug- 
gestion. 

Sept. 17 — Allies began Balkan drive. 

Sept. 26 — Bulgaria asks for armistice. 

Sept. 30 — Bulgarian armistice officially con- 
firmed. Bulgaria accepting 
Allies' terms. 

Oct. 1 — Peace demonstrations in Berlin. 

Oct. 3 — La Bassee captured. 

Oct. 5 — Chancellor Maximilian announces 
in Reichstag that he has asked 
President Wilson to forward to 
Allies Germany's plea for peace. 

Oct. 7 — Great gains by Allies on Western 
Front. 

Oct. 8 — President asks for evidences of 
German good faith. 

Oct. 11 — German retre9,t on Western Front 
continues. 



Oct. 11 — Germany announces Wilson's 
terms will be accepted. 

Oct. 14 — Socialist Congress at Munich 
demands Kaiser's abdication. 

Oct. 15 — British enter suburbs of Lille. 

Oct. 16 — Bruges and Zeebrugge fall. 

Oct. 18 — Canadians enter Doual. 

Oct. 20 — Germany orders U-boat warfare 
on passenger ships stopped. 

Oct. 23 — Wilson tells Germany he has 
transmitted her peace plea to 
Allies. 

Oct. 25 — Anglo-Itahan drive begins. 

Oct. 28 — Turkey asks separate peace. 

Oct. 30 — Austria asks armistice. 

Oct. 31 — Turkish armistice begins. Dar- 
danelles opened. 

Nov. 1 — Austrian revolt begins. 

Nov. 2 — 10,000 Austrians captured. 

Nov. 3 — Austrian armistice terms an- 
nounced. 

Nov. 5 — Lloyd George announces Germany 
must apply to Foch for peace. 

Nov. 6 — German armistice mission leaves 
Berhn for Western Front. 

Nov. 7 — Unconfirmed report Germany has 
accepted armistice terms. 

Nov. 8 — German mission given Allied terms 
with 72 hours to consider* 

Nov. 10 — Kaiser flees to Holland. 

Nov. 11 — Germany accepts Allies' armistice 
terms. 

Nov. 14 — Occupation of Alsace begun. 

Nov. 16 — Informal meetings of Allied peace 
representatives begin. 

Nov. 18 — ^AUied forces begin march into 
Germany. First meeting be- 
tween British and German 
naval representatives to dis- 
cuss German naval surrender. 
French enter Metz. 

Nov. 19 — Twenty German submarines sur- 
render. King of Belgium enters 
Antwerp. 

Nov. 20 — First instalment of German Grand 
Fleet consisting of 71 vessels 
surrendered. 

Nov. 21 — King of Belgium enters Brussels. 

Nov. 24 — French enter Constantinople. 

Nov. 24 — General D'Esperey enters Con- 
stantinople. 

Nov. 25 — Allied Fleet enters Black Sea. 

Nov. 30 — Spartacus group seizes German 
wireless. 

Dec. 3 — Allies threaten occupation of 
Germany if full armistice terms 
are not complied with. 

Dec. 19 — Great welcome to British generals 
in London. 

Dec. 26 — Allies announce no extensive 
" military occupation in Russia. 

1919 

April 25 — First German peace delegates reach 

Versailles. 
May 7 — Peace Treaty handed to Germans. 
June 16 — Germans receive revised Peace 

Treaty. 
June 28 — Germans and Allies sign Peace 
Treaty at Versailles. 



ff 45 79 



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